History of the 7
Legend and Lore of the 7 Bachelors
In the early 1900's, this lush mountain valley was home to a group of seven spry old bachelors. They first came to Colorado in search of silver and other precious ore, homesteading in what is now known as Bachelor Gulch. They came in search of a better way of life. The Seven, as these men became known were John Anderson, Gunder “Gundy” Berg, Ed Howard, Charley Mays, John Mertz, Ferdinand Smith and Carrothers. They stayed in the area until the 1920s when high altitude farming took root in Bachelor Gulch. However, the Great Depression of the 1930s affected the farmers who sold their land to two local ranchers who used the area for herding cattle and grazing sheep. The land remained privately owned for nearly 40 years until the vision for Bachelor Gulch as a vacation resort began to form.