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Buena Vista, CO In Spanish, buena vista means "beautiful view" and the name certainly fits this location. To the west lie the 14,000 feet mountain peaks of Mt. Harvard, Yale and Princeton. To the east is the Arkansas River. Silver miners started the official town in 1879. Buena Vista was an important supply town and sat a the junctions of three early railroads: the Denver and Rio Grande, Colorado Midland and Colorado Southern. The town grew along with Salida, its rival to the south. In 1880 Buena Vista became the Chaffee County Seat after a bitter fight with Salida. Following a local election, it seemed that Buena Vista had won the county seat by 800 votes over Salida. But Salida contested the election and claimed 500 illegal votes had been cast by Buena Vista. The state supreme court declared that the election was illegal. However, the seat still went to Buena Vista. Reports have it that some Buena Vista residents absconded the county records from Granite to literally "take the county seat." They hijacked a D&RG locomotive and drove it to Granite where they made off with the county records that had been stored at a brewery. In 1928 Salida won the county seat from Buena Vista and it has been in Salida ever since. Obviously Buena Vista was a tough place and they had their hanging judge to keep order. Judge Lynch, yes that's right, Lynch, was known for liberal use of the death penalty and seldom allowed appeal. It was a common site to see the Judge's customers hanging from the trees around town. As time went on, the state reformatory was located at Buena Vista. Today ranching, farming, tourism and relaxation are Buena Vista's main enterprises. They call themselves the "Whitewater Capital of the World" and sponsor many events for river goers to get wet in the Arkansas River rapids.
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