In 1889 Nicolas Creede discovered silver in the cliffs above what is now Creede, and in 1892 the town that bears his name was incorporated. Creede was one of the last of the great silver boomtowns of the West and still bears witness in its dramatic setting to the incredible activities that brought the population to upwards of 10,000 people in the area.

In addition to the Creede Underground Mining Museum, the 17-mile Bachelor Loop carries a visitor up West Willow Creek around and above Creede and then back to Boot Hill, resting place for many who came here when the town was young. Bob Ford, the killer of Jesse James, ran a tent saloon in Creede where he met an equally violent death at the hands of one Ed O'Kelley and his double-barrel shotgun. Ford was one of those buried in Creede's Boot Hill. Two of Creede's outlaws allegedly were deemed so unworthy of Salvation that they were buried North-South instead of East-West, intended to preclude their having any possibility of Redemption on Judgement Day.

Creede is literally encircled by the Continental Divide. It is in a geologic formation known as the Creede Caldera, a bowl-shaped configuration resulting from the massive eruption of a volcano millions of years ago. The dome of the volcano came to rest in a unique and beautiful formation near the Ranch that later became Wheeler National Geologic Monument, visited in recent years by Bill Gates together with 150 individuals on horseback.

Just beyond Wheeler Monument toward Del Norte is the site where General John Fremont's ill-fated expedition to find passage to the West Coast became snow bound. With snow as high as the horses' backs, a third of the members were lost to winter conditions.

In the other direction lies North Clear Creek Falls, the magnificent vista of Windy Point and its view of several "14ners", Slumgullion Pass and the historic town of Lake City. Nearby are the gravesites of the victims of Alferd Packer, whose winter expedition in early 1874 was wiped out (with one exception, Packer himself) by what was, for a century, the only crime of cannibalism resulting in a conviction in this country.

Wolf Creek Pass is also in Mineral County. It is traditionally the ski basin in North America with the deepest snow base. Approximately 15 miles by air, Wolf Creek's ski area is just over a half-hour drive by vehicle from Creede, the county seat and the only town in Mineral County.