The Historic Wit’s End Trout Ponds

These 5 ponds known as “Chain 0’ Lakes” were originally large, spring- fed beaver ponds. Trout naturally reproduce in the little spring creeks leading into the ponds, and have for over a millennium. Back in 1879, after John Patrick had completed the old barn and log cabins, he had a conversation with his brother. Now the brother, Washington “Wash” Patrick, was a real mountain man, uneducated, but trained in the ways of nature. His first 60 years were spent nearly entirely up on the top side. He loved to study the trout.

The Patricks and a Mr. Bern then decided to enlarge the ponds and open a private hunting and fishing lodge to cater to the then fledgling Animas City, later Durango area.
These ponds were found to be the finest reproductive ponds for breeding trout of any in the entire region. Rivaled only by giant Emerald Lake at over 10,000’, our ponds have produced 8-10 pound German Brown Trout. “Wash” Patrick was so knowledgeable in trout reproduction and game lore that he became the first Fishing Commissioner in the state of Colorado. Our trout ponds became so well known that they were designated by the state to stock all the other lakes with our trout for a period of 50 or 60 years, until the new fish hatchery was built in Durango.

Our ponds stocked all of the original trout for Vallecito Lake. These fish found their way down to Navajo Lake and eventually to Southern Rivers in Arizona and New Mexico.
So you see folks, although you never thought of it before, our Wit’s End Trout have been introduced all over the west. At one time, locals called them “Wit’s End Trout.” When you catch your trout elsewhere, perhaps you will think of this little story, a part of our “little valley”, the Vallecito!

Sacred Waters
The water you see people stopping by to drink and fill their jugs with is part of a historical spring flowing into the Wit’s End Ranch. It is located just across from the second to the largest pond, alongside the road.
We do not have all the history, but we have been told the water is “Sacred Water.” For eons, this water has been continuously used as an important part of the Indian Tribal religion and their sacred celebrators of worship.
To this day, the tribe continues to utilize these waters. Wit’s End is respectful of this religious rite and is honored to have the Sacred Water flowing through the ranch. This spring-fed water is very pure. You are welcome to drink or taste it if you like. It is delicious.

Dalton Gang
It is rumored the old Dalton Gang came into this remote Vallecito River Valley first. Back in the 1860’s, this was a great valley in which to hide, teeming with game, with only one way in from the south. You can imagine how hard it would be for the law to get in without being seen or heard.

In those days, the county was remote, and the town of Durango was not even a dream. The Daltons never homesteaded the land, however after they were pardoned and didn’t have to hide, we assume they moved to lower and milder elevations. They ultimately homesteaded just North of Durango on the Animas River, where the family still owns land.

THE LEGEND OF THE STALLIONS IN THE GLASS
A story of an ancient breed of horses who developed the ability to live as long as their masters, in some cases over 100 years. They were from a gentler time before Rome, before Egypt, before wars, the first of these magnificent horses was born just after the last ice age, when men were kinder and the world was peaceful, all but one had died or been killed by the cruelness of mankind. This story is about the one that survived. The year was 1780. England had just lost the war with the fledgling United States. The English countryside was alive with prosperity. Large estates, wealthy lords and great houses were being erected in may parts of the land. There were at this time only a few wild horses in all of the British Isles. Most of these were just ordinary wild horses. However, one was a direct descendant of the ancient breed, a wonderfully beautiful wild black thoroughbred. His sire had been turned out to pasture by a lover of horses nearly a century earlier. He did not know or understand what he had.

This wonderful stallion had the blood lines that predate the Roman conquest of Britain almost two millenniums ago, and was descended from the ice age breed. This black stallion loved to run and would often run against or with the wind. His shiny mane and tail raised, he would appear to fly, a black stallion on the horizon racing for all eternity.

After a few years of racing with the other horses and running with the winds, he was despondent, he was so much faster than all the other horses, he began to long for a mate... it was time to settle down and raise a few young colts and fillies. Alas, none of the other horses had the stamina, intelligence or fine lines of this stallion. He began to despair and felt a deep longing in his heart. One day while running along the Cliffs of Dover, he saw in a great distance a fine black horse racing the wind. He galloped in the direction of this vision. When he reached the other horse he immediately challenged it to a race. Much to his surprise this beautiful horse was a filly. She was radiant, with a black shiny coat and gorgeous lines. He said to himself, boy this is a horse! So they raced. He won. She challenged him back and she won the second race. He said, let’s wait until morning at first light and we shall both race against the rising sun. Next morning at dawn they raced from first sun up until last sunset, over a 100 mile journey they ran like the wind, neck and neck.

Finally, in a burst of unbound energy and joy he pulled ahead and just won by a few lengths.
Now, she was really impressed by this fine stallion. That evening under the stars and full moon they nuzzled, talked for hours and made rapturous love. They were both excited and talked of future years. Soon they isolated themselves from the other wild horses and had a fine young pair of twins, then another pair the next season, and the seasons rolled by. These young colts and fillies grew and could run like the fine stallion and mare that sired them. The entire family was beautiful, black as night and as fast as the wind. They often played and raced together.

After many years the joy of their life was rudely interrupted by race horse trainers and operators who had heard of this fast and unusually beautiful family of horses. They hunted for them, they wanted to capture them for shows and racing. They chased them, put traps out to catch them, they tried to snare these great horses. The herd was frightened, then they heard stories about America. They wanted to find a way to go there. They heard of tremendous wild lands that had no people, no one to persecute them or capture them, there they could be as free as the wind.

They were running from their potential captors one afternoon. They had been running and hiding for weeks through the forest, the hills and the cliffs. Then, one day, they saw in a clearing a huge building. It was like something they never saw before. It was about 260 feet tall, maybe 300 feet. It was as big as an entire meadow, as wide as one-quarter mile and as long as one-half mile.

It was made of glass. It had curved metal beams holding up tremendous amounts of glass. The inside was full of trees. It was a forest in a glass building. The doors were huge and they were open. The horses all ran inside and stayed undetected until dawn. They noticed there were people on one end of the building. They were drinking, dancing and having a good time. The horses wondered if there were any good people anywhere because they were always being chased by people wanting to capture them. Soon a friendly and warm looking person with a fine mustache walked in. Somehow the horses did not feel afraid.

The person spoke to them in soft tones and he told the horses they could stay in his glass house for many years and raise their young. This was a preserve for trees and wildlife. It was called the Crystal Palace and he was the builder. He said to call him “Joe”. The man chuckled to himself. These horses can’t understand me or talk back to me either, but he noticed how incredibly beautiful they were. Their eyes seemed to contain a deep wisdom! The great stallion was overwhelmed by this man’s kindness and generosity. He told his herd and brood he thought they should stay, that certainly this kind man could be trusted. The year was 1836.

Years passed, the great stallion and his filly had more young foals, the young foals grew older and had many foals of their own. Somehow the great stallion knew that he must soon make his exit from this life. He was now over 100 years in age. He was saddened and spoke many times with his mare about how wonderful it would be if they could have gone to America so they would have complete freedom to run the mountains and meadows without worry.

One day around 1850 the kind man who had built this Crystal Palace came to them and said they would have to leave because he had arranged to let the London World’s Exposition use his magnificent building for the next many years. There would be a lot of people and he was afraid someone would steal the horses or otherwise harm them.

The great stallion was saddened to take his family back to the open spaces as he knew they would be pursued once again. They nevertheless went out into the world once again.
Soon, just as the great stallion knew, they were being pursued. The great Crystal Palace was utilized for the first World’s Exposition, the year was 1853. Hundreds of thousands of people were in the area. The horses hid as best they could but the constant running from captors and hiding every night took its toll.

One day while along the cliffs, they noticed a large sailing vessel unloading horses on to a dock. They thought if they could make it to the ship they would hide in the place where the other horses were and wait until no one was looking, then they could steal the ship and sail to America As they went down to the ship one night, they stole past a sleeping sailor who was on post. They went into the ship, into the hold where the stables were. They waited. Soon the ship set sail. The Captain, not having a return cargo, had no reason to check the hold where the horses were.

Soon the horses were headed out to sea. A vicious storm came. The ship was capsized, the horses were trapped in the hold. They kicked at the side of the ship and made a hole large enough for them to escape. They swam out and soon they were in the ocean. A large amount of the ship was still intact. Most of them held on and floated all the way to America. The great stallion and his mare just could not make it. Only the 40 youngest and strongest horses made it all the way. They went west to the wide open spaces and lived there every generation thereafter.

The Great Stallion and his mare swam back to England. Exhausted from their journey, they crawled back to the Crystal Palace. They went into the end of the building where they saw their old friend, Joe . . . he will surely help us the great stallion thought. They were completely exhausted now and almost unable to stand up. Joe took them into the Crystal Tavern, which was part of the great Crystal Palace. All the people became startled and left to go outside.

The two horses never having been in a place that had mirrors on every wall were surprised to see reflections of black horses in every mirror from every angle. The ancient black stallion said to his great mare, “See our family? They are still with us.”. . . soon, they both laid down on the floor of the Crystal Tavern saying to each other, “our journey is over, our children are safe, we shall now sleep. Sleeping, they both passed to the heavens that evening, peacefully, never seeing the America of the longing . . . of their dreams.

Now many years passed by, the Palace was utilized by the British for over one-half a century, then in 1906 it was completely destroyed by fire. The horses had been buried in the floor of the Crystal Tavern, their spirits were now turned loose . . . free at last. Another one-half century passed, during the 1940’s the palace’s Crystal Tavern Mirrors found their way to America. Miraculously they wound up in the far west, arriving in Colorado in 1972. In 1987 they became part of the historical Wit’s End Ranch in the Colorado Tavern. The tavern is named after the Crystal Tavern engraved in the mirrors. The spirits of the Great Stallion and his beautiful mare became restless when their beloved Crystal Palace burned, their final resting place was set asunder. Now, this is our legend, of (The Stallions In The Glass).

Every night, if you really believe, you must look into our Crystal Tavern mirrors at just midnight, you will see the Great Crystal Palace stallion and his mares running with the north wind in the glass. The background may show their brood galloping in the distance, all manes flying, black tails raisec4 all racing with the wind. If you listen carefully you can hear their brood of young horses galloping across the meadow right outside the door. The stallion and his mare did finally make it to America.

Copyright © 1, C. Warrior 1993