A Brief History of Monarch
Monarch was a mining settlement in the Sawatch Range west of Garfield. Originally called Chaffee City, it grew during the mining boom of the 1880s. A county historic survey records about 200 miners, roughly 20 businesses and a newspaper during its boom years. The Salida Digital Archive places the historic townsite about a mile west of Garfield, another settlement in the same mining district. The Monarch name also appears on the nearby pass and the ski area that developed later in the San Isabel National Forest.
Historical Sources
Chaffee County Historic Resource Survey