Kemosabe at Silverheels

We were born on a cold, wintery day on November 22nd, 1988 high on the flanks of Buffalo Mountain in Wildernest, Silverthorne, Colorado. Chef Bob Starekow, a graduate of the school of hard knocks with partners Mickey Smith and Jimmy Shields of the Snake River Saloon, was recruited to lead the kitchen. Me and my lovely wife, Marla with a crew of 20 converted the oldest building in Wildernest into a Spanish style wood frame hacienda with a tiny kitchen, a dining hall and four small fire-lit dining rooms. The restaurant was named for a lovely dance hall girl called “Lady Silverheels” from Buckskin Joe, Colorado. She was much admired by the miners who frequented the towns many saloons. In 1859, a severe smallpox epidemic hit the community, closing the mines. Lady Silverheels visited sickbeds from one camp to the next, giving aid and comfort to the desperately ill. Finally, she too fell to the dreaded disease. When many of the miners came to seek her out, they found that Lady Silverheels had vanished... No trace of her was ever found. The townspeople named a mountain in her honor. Mt. Silverheels, which rises 13,825 feet majestically from the valleys of South Park near Fairplay, Colorado, is a monument to the mysterious woman whose beauty and unselfishness saved so many lives. Her portrait hangs in our restaurant to this day.