Ideal was another company town for the Colorado Fuel and Iron company. The town was located south of Walsenburg and north of Hezron and is an easy drive south out of Walsenburg near the cemetery. Not much is known, except that it had a post office from 1910 to 1929.

When I was onsite, a motorist stopped to see if I needed help. I explained I was interested in the history and she got me in touch with a guy named John who lived in the area at the time the mines were still around. I talked to him for an hour, and these are some of the things we talked about.

John's mother was both in Hezron in 1904, and John himself was born in and lived in Ravenwood, which was about a mile north of Ideal. He walked to Walsenburg for school 3 miles each way, each day. At the time in his youth, his father worked at the town sites of Cameron, Gordon, Mutual, and Ravenwood. John himself began work at the Gordon site in 1937 at the age of 15. Neither John nor his dad ever worked Rouse. He left in 1941 for WW2, and never returned. Although his dad worked for CF&I, he himself did not, working at Gordon, a privately owned mine. He says that in light of earlier events, such as the Ludlow incident, by the time he was born CF&I was unionized. He had many fond memories of playing baseball and hiking the Ideal area.

According to John, Ravenwood was one mile north of Ideal, and Cameron was another mile to the west of Ravenwood. He has informed me both sites are on private property, and nothing remains. Neither site is mentioned in Ken Jessen's books, and I could find no reference to them on topo maps back to 1971, however, they are shown on the CF&I ad flyer. (See first image.) John now resides in Boulder.

Ghost Town Ideal Photography Pages Available

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Camera Used: Canon Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS
Exposure Time: 1/160    Aperture: f/8.0    ISO: 100
Date Taken: 2010:05:08 11:43:47        Want to use this image? See the More information tab.

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Camera Used: Canon Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS
Exposure Time: 1/125    Aperture: f/7.1    ISO: 100
Date Taken: 2010:05:08 11:45:18        Want to use this image? See the More information tab.

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Camera Used: Canon Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS
Exposure Time: 1/200    Aperture: f/9.0    ISO: 100
Date Taken: 2010:05:08 11:47:51        Want to use this image? See the More information tab.

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Camera Used: Canon Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS
Exposure Time: 1/125    Aperture: f/7.1    ISO: 100
Date Taken: 2010:05:08 12:00:11        Want to use this image? See the More information tab.

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Camera Used: Canon Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS
Exposure Time: 1/160    Aperture: f/8.0    ISO: 100
Date Taken: 2010:05:08 12:01:20        Want to use this image? See the More information tab.

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Camera Used: Canon Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS
Exposure Time: 1/125    Aperture: f/9.0    ISO: 100
Date Taken: 2010:05:08 12:15:17        Want to use this image? See the More information tab.

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Camera Used: Canon Canon PowerShot S5 IS
Exposure Time: 1/250    Aperture: f/4.0    ISO: 80
Date Taken: 2009:07:06 14:50:12        Want to use this image? See the More information tab.

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Camera Used: Canon Canon PowerShot S5 IS
Exposure Time: 1/320    Aperture: f/4.0    ISO: 80
Date Taken: 2009:07:06 14:51:33        Want to use this image? See the More information tab.

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Camera Used: Unavailable Unavailable
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Camera Used: Canon Canon PowerShot S5 IS
Exposure Time: 1/1000    Aperture: f/4.0    ISO: 80
Date Taken: 2009:06:03 15:26:57        Want to use this image? See the More information tab.

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Ghost Town Ideal Photography Album Pages Available

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