At 10,000 feet, winter doesn’t just arrive; it settles into your bones.
Snow swallows rooftops. Oxygen thins. In the mines, darkness is constant; above ground, the cold is merciless. If a cough lingers too long or the sun doesn’t shine for one too many days, it could mean the difference between life and death.
This was life for Irish immigrants in Leadville in the 1800s. Brutal, overworked and often short, with immigrants in Leadville’s Evergreen Cemetery averaging a lifespan of 22 years…