Rosita was a silver mining town — now a ghost town — in Custer County, Colorado, United States. Rosita is Spanish for little rose. The town is not entirely deserted, and still has an operating restaurant.

The town was used in the filming of the 1958 western movie Saddle the Wind.

History

Rosita was founded in late 1872 by prospectors attracted by discoveries of silver. The town was composed of tents and log cabins, but soon had stores, carpenters, a hotel, saloon, blacksmith shop, and an assayer. By 1874 the town had more than a thousand residents and 400 buildings. A US post office opened in 1874, and in September 1874 the Rosita Index began as a weekly newspaper. Rosita took the seat of Custer County away from Ula (now also a ghost town) in 1878.

Despite some rich strikes in the Pocahantas and Humboldt mines, the silver veins around Rosita ran out of ore in a few years. In the early 1880s, Rosita was surpassed by the nearby mining towns of Querida and Silver Cliff. After a bitter four-year fight, Silver Cliff took the county seat from Rosita in the 1886 election, and Rosita declined further. The US post office was closed in 1966. ZIP code 81252 now serves Rosita, but mail must be addressed to Westcliffe.

Geography

Rosita is at an elevation of 8809 feet (2685 m), at .

References

See also

List of ghost towns in Colorado

External links

• Ghosttowns.com: Rosita