Justen G. "Jess" Oakley and Eli Fletcher carry the mail down snow-covered Main Street, Breckenridge, during the "Big Snow" event of 1898-1899. The men volunteered to ski over Boreas Pass to Como, where the Denver, South Park and Pacific (DSP&P) railway was stopped. Heavy snowstorms prevented trains from delivering mail, fresh food and other supplies. Quoted from handwritten text on the reverse: "US mail via snow shoe winter of the 78 day blockade".

Elmer C. Peabody dedicated this typed manuscript to his granddaughters in 1952. In it, he shares his memories of the "Big Snow" of 1898-1899 as a fourteen year old boy living in Breckenridge. Of particular interest is Elmer's description of "snow bikes". Also, he tells about mail delivery and transportation by skis, low food supplies and Mrs. Kaiser's cow, and dances held at G.A.R. Hall and Fireman's Hall.

Melting snowbank exposes a tunnel on the west side of Main Street, Breckenridge, in April 1899. A man interacts with a dog in the foreground. Behind them stands two false-front buildings and the side gabled Silverthorn Hotel. "April 14th, '99" is handwritten on the reverse.

Two men shovel snow from the entrance to the Boreas post office and telegraph station, on top of Boreas Pass on the route to Breckenridge, Colorado. Handwritten on the reverse: "scene of the snow blockade showing the Boreas Pass Post Office and telegraph station 11500 feet above sea level 1899" and in the lower corner: "G.W".

Men watch the rotary snowplow clear snow from the railroad tracks on Boreas Pass, east of Breckenridge, Colorado. Handwritten on the reverse: "Clearing Boreas Pass Big Snow 1899".

Tall snow banks flank the sides of a shoveled path leading to a house in Breckenridge, Colorado, during the "Big Snow" winter of 1898-1899. Minnie Roby, dressed in a hat, scarf and long coat, stands on the cleared path. A man and woman (probably Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert) are at the front door.

Gold Run Flume frozen with icicles caused by an ice dam, during the "Big Snow" winter of 1898-1899. The wooden flume carried water over French Gulch for placer mining operations, connecting to the Gold Run Ditch at both ends. It was located in French Gulch between the towns of Breckenridge and Lincoln City. A woman holds a large icicle while perched on a ladder leaned against the flume. Another woman and a young boy stand nearby, also holding icicles.

Two women and a man look through a snow tunnel crossing Main Street, Breckenridge, Colorado, during the "Big Snow" winter of 1898-1899. The women wear feathered hats and are warmly dressed in wool jacket bodices or capes over long box-pleat skirts. The man is wearing a suit with necktie and a hat. The stone front of Charles A. Finding's hardware store is in view behind them.

Two women and a man look through a snow tunnel crossing Main Street, Breckenridge, Colorado, during the "Big Snow" winter of 1898-1899. The women wear feathered hats and are warmly dressed in wool jacket bodices or capes over long box-pleat skirts. The man is wearing a suit with necktie and a hat. The stone front of Charles A. Finding's hardware store is in view behind them.

Men and women sit or stand at the entrance of a snow tunnel used to access the Denver Hotel on the west side of Main Street, Breckenridge, Colorado, during the "Big Snow" of 1898-1899. Snowfall totaled over 32 feet that winter; it was so deep it reached the hotel's second-floor balcony.

Men and women stand in snowdrifts covering the sidewalk under the portico of the Denver Hotel on Main Street in Breckenridge, Colorado. During the "Big Snow" event of 1898-1899, heavy snowfall had reached the second story of most buildings, and tunnels dug through the snow were used to cross Main Street.

Hardcover photograph album. Single photographs inserted into a paper enclosure sleeve; each sleeve has an open viewing window that frames the image. Title quoted from handwritten text on the inside cover: "Snow Scenes around Breckenridge, Colo. Winter 1899". The front and back cover have a purple floral print on a green background. "Photos" is embossed in silver print on the front cover. The spine has a wide band with a silver embossed pattern on a cream background.

View looking through the wood-framed railroad snowshed on Boreas Pass, along the Boreas Pass route from Como to Breckenridge, Colorado. Handwritten on the reverse: "Snowshed - Boreas Pass" and stamped "O. Westerman, Photographer, Breckenridge, - Colorado."

Snow cleared from the railroad tracks and spur that serviced the Kilton Gold Reduction Company ore sampler west of Breckenridge, Colorado, in the winter of the "Big Snow" of 1898-1899. Quoted from print on reverse: "RR yds Breckenridge 1899".

Rotary snow plow leaving Breckenridge, Colorado, during the Big Snow event of 1898-1899. Between four and six helper train engines were required to push the rotary because it was not self-propelled.

The rotary snow plow and several train engines are stopped in a deep drift of snow covering the railroad tracks on Barney Ford Hill, east of Breckenridge, Colorado, in April 1899. A well-dressed man stands on a rock overlooking the tracks, while shovelers dig out debris buried under snow that could damage the rotary's blades. View of snowy Tenmile Range in the background.

Plumes of smoke rise from the rotary snow plow and helper engines on the way to Boreas Pass, east of Breckenridge, Colorado. Because it was not self-propelled, the rotary snow plow required four to six railroad locomotives to push it through deep drifts of snow. Men stand on the side to watch the rotary throw snow from the tracks. Tenmile Range in the background. During the "Big Snow" event of 1898-1899.

A rotary snow plow and four or five helper engines prepare to leave Breckenridge, Colorado, and begin the slow ascent to Boreas Pass east of town. Snowy Tenmile Range in the background. Circa February 1899, during the Big Snow event of 1898-1899.

Men watch the rotary snow plow clear deep drifts of snow off the railroad tracks near Breckenridge, Colorado. Probably during the Big Snow event of 1898-1899.

People on or above the rotary snow plow stopped in one of the cuts through the deep snow drifts at Boreas Pass, east of Breckenridge, Colorado. Standing on the tracks below, a man holds a shovel high against the exposed side walls to show the snow depth. With him is another man and a boy with two dogs. Circa April 1899.