DEL NORTE — Rio Grande County Museum has the privilege of hosting a book signing for Sandra Wagner and Carol Ann Wetherill for their recent publication “Hidden History of the Upper Rio Grande” on Saturday, June 3rd from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Home to long-forgotten mining towns, defunct fisheries and neglected cabins, the turbulent headwaters of the Upper Rio Grande conceal a largely unknown history. Dr. MaryAnn Faunce, the daughter of an abolitionist and suffragette, made house calls as a real-life Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, as shown on television years ago. The rough and tumble miners drawn to Creede’s silver boom found accommodations ranging the primitive to the “opulent” such as the enduring Creede Hotel.

Carol Ann Wetherill is an Upper Rio Grande fourth generation native, with roots connected to the Wetherill family of Mesa Verde as well as their pioneering in Mancos Valley and the Upper Rio Grande. The Lost Trails resort has been home to Carol Ann throughout her life. She has collected stories over her life and the “boxes”, as they are affectionately known, have taken over her home. She has spent hours on Colorado Historic Newspaper Collection and Heritage Quest websites, getting information to support her stories.

Carol Ann’s mother, Ina Wetherill, helped to establish the Rio Grande County Museum.

Sandra Wagner grew up in northern Colorado, attended college, served two years in the Peace Corps in Ghana, West Africa and worked for many years as a chemist at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. She retired in 2008, but her active style of living brought her to teaching chemistry part-time at Adams States University and enjoys training mules and rescuing Dachshunds at Lost Trail Station on the Upper Rio Grande. Wagner is married to Carol Ann’s son, William. Sandra is presently serving as secretary to the Rio Grande County Museum, Inc. 501(c) 3 board.

The pair started writing their joint history articles in 2006 and wrote one every year for the Lake City newspaper. They realized that they had quite a collection of stories and thought the stories would make an interesting book.

The majority of the images are from the authors’ private collection. The book describes the battle with the high Colorado mountains, inclement weather and the daily struggle of life before modern conveniences. The goal of the authors is to appeal to a broad audience, something that one can pick up and read and enjoyed by the residents of the area as well as the tourists and summer visitors to the area.

The book sells for $21.99, contains 192 pages and was published by the Arcadia Publishing Company. The books will be available in The Shoppe at the Museum as well as at Pine Cone Books in Del Norte.

Rio Grande County Museum is located at 580 Oak Street in Del Norte, just south of the town’s  only stop light. For more information, please contact the museum at (719) 657-2847 or by email at [email protected].  Museum hours are Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for children from 6 to 16.