The Ouray economy has changed, although not very much. It was based on gold from 1876-1978. In 1978 most major mines closed down for good. In 1886 the Beaumont opened really starting tourism in Ouray. The Circle Route and the Rainbow Route (train paths for tourists) opened in the early 1890’s. The Rainbow Route went from Silverton to the top of Red Mountain Pass, down to Ironton and took a stagecoach to Ouray. It is called the Rainbow Route because the rainbow shaped path that it takes. The Circle Route started at the depot in Ouray, went to Ridgway, down to Telluride, to Silverton, and last it went to Durango. The Galloping Geese also helped tourism in a lot of ways. For example, the Galloping Geese put a bus type thing on the back of the train for tourists to ride. They put a snack bar in it too, to help attract tourists too. A lot of tourists go through Ouray to get to Telluride, the famous ski area. A lot of reasons people go to Ouray are because all the cool historic buildings and all the great things you can do. For example, you can take a jeep tour (if you don’t mind driving you can take a rental), go hiking, and there is great hunting. Jeeps were first invented in the 1940’s for World War II. When the war was over, they didn’t know what to do with the Jeeps so they sold them to people who used them for tours and for high country driving. The Ouray economy has two important pieces, mining and tourism, and would never have made it without either.