“Everything went wrong,” lamented a headline in The Aspen Times on May 17, 1929. The paper was referring to a road trip taken by Aspen High School students to Gunnison, where they dealt with numerous car issues. Eventually the group split up, some staying in Montrose with one broken-down car while the others continued home toward Aspen, and the trouble continued. As the article described, “Prof. Jones’ car, driven by Ernest Cotton, had a faulty generator and poor lights. Between Rifle and Glenwood a passing car blinded Ernest and his car went over the grade. No one was hurt and the car was undamaged. Passing autoists, who happened to be former Aspenites, tried to put the car back on the road. It was then discovered there was a leak in the gas tank and this was thought could be fixed by driving a match in the hole. Hitting the match with a flashlight it was ignited and the car was set on fire. The fire was put out with mud but the car was completely demolished from the front seat back. The students were then taken to Glenwood where they stayed over Sunday night. All say they will never forget this eventful trip.” This image shows cars parked in front of the Aspen High School building, circa 1930.
This photo and more can be found in the Aspen Historical Society archives at aspenhistory.org.