Overview

"""How Crested Butte Became a Tourist Town,"" is a fun-filled social history about the evolution of a once tiny, working-class, ethnic, mining town into one of today's major destination tourist towns and recreation communities that cater to the recreation needs of both its upper-middle class visitors and residents alike. That transformation occured in the post-WWII period as our nation was moving from the industial revolution into the industrial age, and more people were ""living lives of not such quiet desperation (to paraphrase Henry David Thoreau) and needed time to play and rejuvenate themselves and had more disposable income to do that. The book focuses on the early stages of that transformation, from the late 1960's to the latter part of the '70's. the days that were the most racous, wild, and conflict ridden. That was the period when new young immigrants to the town laid the foundation for what exists today, and fought with the old-timers and among themselves in order to do that. Advanced readers heaped praise on the work. One of them, the current mayor who has been a local elected official for almost 30 years said, ""... tells the story of a town emerging from a domant cocoon ...its identity being pulled from divergent groups from old time miners to the counterculture radicals of the 60's ...[shows] how civilization is shaped by strong personalities..."" Another one, the long time editor of the local newspaper commented, ""a love story to ... Crested Butte ... [that] probably describes a number of ... outposts in the mountains of America ... in the 60s, 70s, and 80s."" A professor emeritus of geography at the University of New Mexico at Los Alamos wrote, ""...a detailed perspective on the transformation and evolution of community ... defines the journey that many communities ... have taken, are taking, and will take ..."" The executive director of the Crested Butte Heritage Museum noted, ""Drawing on extensive interviews, archival research and personal experiences, Kahn vividly describes the social forces that defined [the] 1960s and 70s in Crested Butte. ... a wild time in a wild place."" Ten years in the making, this work is based on about seventy-five 2-6 hour interviews with people who were full-time residents, ""locals,"" in the 60s and 70s, extensive and detailed readings of the two local newspapers during that era, listening and watching audio and video tapes of old-time miners, ranchers, and the new recreationists from that period, as well as other written materials about that era. Despite the sociological and other social science content of the book, it is not written in ""ologese""; it is written in plain English. Enjoy the book!"

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9781733962209

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Reviews

"Towns and cities all have a ""birth story"" but few have as a dramatic and different ""rebirth story."" After 72 years as a mining town and 10 years as an almost ghost town, ""How Crested Butte Became A Tourist Town: Drugs, Sex, Sports, Arts, and Social Conflict,"" tells the story of a town emerging from its dormant cocoon, struggling to find its identity being pulled from divergent groups from old time miners to the counterculture radicals of the '60s. It reminded me of the HBO superb series ""Deadwood"" that showed how civilizsation is shaped by strong personalities and the need for some law and order. -- Jim Schmidt, Crested Butte Mayor Roger Kahn writes a love story to the small town of Crested Butte, Colorado that he discovered in the late 1960s when old miners, young ski bums, wandering hippies, and anoymous outlaws all convened in an idyllic high mountain nirvana that included cheap dope, copious sex and free roaming dogs. He explores a period of time that he claims was as good as remembered and better than pretty much anywhere else in the world. But that nirvana came with a clash of cultures not just between the old timers and the new pioneers but between the smart, young transplants who disagreed on how to grow the place. Kahn's love story probably describes a number of these wild, small town outposts in the mountains of America as the sport of skiing took hold of the general population in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Roger was fortunate to experience the early days of a special time that has long been abandoned in most of these places and he has the writing skill to bring those days back to life. He delves into the politics of growth and gentrification ... and while making clear the ""good times"" can never be repeated, he explains how these communities that reflect the libertarian values of the 1960s continue to attract interesting, creative people looking for an alternative lifestyle. -- Mark Reaman, Editor, Crested Butte News This is a detailed perspective on the transformation and evolution of community. The reader is treated to the spatial, cultural, economic and social elements that shape the places in which we live, work and play. This work reveals the political, personal, and familial challenges that many have endured in their pursuit of ""life, liberty and happiness."" Finally, the book defines the journey that many communities like Crested Butte have taken, are taking, and will take resulting from the multiplicity of divergent lifestyles and societal norms occurring globally. -- Cederic D. Page, Professor Emeritus of Geography, University of New Mexico, Los Alamos Drawing on extensive interviews, archival research, and personal experiences, Kahn vividly describes the social forces that defined the 1960s and 70s in Crested Butte. He deftly points his sociologist lens on this pivitol period of Crested Butte history, describing the various factions of people that lived in and moved to town, bringing with them different backgrounds, values, forms of expression and visions for the future. Kahn shows how the conflicts and collaborations between these factions shaped Crested Butte's evolution into the tourist destination and recreation exurb that it is today. A must read for anyone interested in the history of Crested Butte, the US counterculture, and an engaging read about a wild time in a wild place. - -- Shelley Popke, Executive Director, Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum"

Towns and cities all have a birth story but few have as a dramatic and different rebirth story. After 72 years as a mining town and 10 years as an almost ghost town, How Crested Butte Became A Tourist Town: Drugs, Sex, Sports, Arts, and Social Conflict, tells the story of a town emerging from its dormant cocoon, struggling to find its identity being pulled from divergent groups from old time miners to the counterculture radicals of the '60s. It reminded me of the HBO superb series Deadwood that showed how civilizsation is shaped by strong personalities and the need for some law and order. -- Jim Schmidt, Crested Butte Mayor Roger Kahn writes a love story to the small town of Crested Butte, Colorado that he discovered in the late 1960s when old miners, young ski bums, wandering hippies, and anoymous outlaws all convened in an idyllic high mountain nirvana that included cheap dope, copious sex and free roaming dogs. He explores a period of time that he claims was as good as remembered and better than pretty much anywhere else in the world. But that nirvana came with a clash of cultures not just between the old timers and the new pioneers but between the smart, young transplants who disagreed on how to grow the place. Kahn's love story probably describes a number of these wild, small town outposts in the mountains of America as the sport of skiing took hold of the general population in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Roger was fortunate to experience the early days of a special time that has long been abandoned in most of these places and he has the writing skill to bring those days back to life. He delves into the politics of growth and gentrification ... and while making clear the good times can never be repeated, he explains how these communities that reflect the libertarian values of the 1960s continue to attract interesting, creative people looking for an alternative lifestyle. -- Mark Reaman, Editor, Crested Butte News This is a detailed perspective on the transformation and evolution of community. The reader is treated to the spatial, cultural, economic and social elements that shape the places in which we live, work and play. This work reveals the political, personal, and familial challenges that many have endured in their pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. Finally, the book defines the journey that many communities like Crested Butte have taken, are taking, and will take resulting from the multiplicity of divergent lifestyles and societal norms occurring globally. -- Cederic D. Page, Professor Emeritus of Geography, University of New Mexico, Los Alamos Drawing on extensive interviews, archival research, and personal experiences, Kahn vividly describes the social forces that defined the 1960s and 70s in Crested Butte. He deftly points his sociologist lens on this pivitol period of Crested Butte history, describing the various factions of people that lived in and moved to town, bringing with them different backgrounds, values, forms of expression and visions for the future. Kahn shows how the conflicts and collaborations between these factions shaped Crested Butte's evolution into the tourist destination and recreation exurb that it is today. A must read for anyone interested in the history of Crested Butte, the US counterculture, and an engaging read about a wild time in a wild place. - -- Shelley Popke, Executive Director, Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum

Author Information

"Formerly a community organizer and university professor, Roger is now a small business owner. He has been associated actively with Crested Butte and other tourist towns and recreation communities for over 50 years. To describe these new enclaves that have always attracted adventurous, creative, affluent people, he has coined the term for them, ""recreation exurbs."""

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