Sylvan M. Dubow collection on Otto Mears

Otto Mears (1840-1931) was born in Kurland, Russian and orphaned at an early age. He lived with different relatives until he ended up in San Francisco, searching for an uncle who had already left for Australia. He enrolled in the First Regiment of California Volunteers at the onset of the Civil War. During his military experiences, he participated in the Navajo War under Kit Carson's command. Upon his discharge, he moved to Sante Fe, and later to Colorado, where he built a grist mill and a road from Saguache to the Arkansas Valley. The road caught the interest of Governor Gilpin, who recommended it be built for a potential railway, and Mears applied for his first toll road. When rich mines were found in the San Juans Mountains, Mears organized a company to create toll roads earning his name "Pathfinder of San Juans." To help promote the region, Mears published newspapers in Saguache and Lake City. In 1879, after the Meeker massacre, Mears helped rescue women captives and accompanied an Indian delegation to Washington, D.C. for treaty negotiations. Mears later expanded into railroad building, building the Rio Grande Southern and the Silverton Northern Colorado railroads. Mears passed away in Pasadena, CA where he had spent his last years.