Jousting with public officials is nothing new for Boulware. When he worked for the city, he was demoted before DIA opened and stripped of his role as the airport's chief spokesman. Boulware accused Mayor Wellington Webb of targeting him, because he had objected to alleged cronyism in the awarding of airport contracts, and he also accused the city of age and gender bias. He challenged the demotion in court, and Denver District Court Judge John Coughlin ruled in his favor in 1996, saying the city had violated its own Career Service Authority rules by demoting Boulware. The judge ordered the city to provide Boulware with all the benefits he had lost when demoted, including pay increases, promotions and retirement earnings.
At the time, Boulware said the ruling ended "three years and ten months of pure hell that has cost me my marriage, savings and included death threats over the phone."
Jo Rivers
Brett Amole
Mining history: Richard Boulware discovered Saxonia on an old railroad ticket.
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Boulware chose to take early retirement three years ago, but he has continued to publicly criticize the Webb administration. Recently he appeared on Mike Rosen's radio show to renew his charges of cronyism in DIA contracting.
Now he's crusading to save Saxonia from disappearing once again into the mists of time. He hopes to win the support of Jefferson County officials and find funding to explore and fix up the location. "We have to preserve this before it gets paved over," he says. "There aren't many spots like this left. We have a tiny, historical Garden of Eden here."
Historic preservationists say they're intrigued by the possibility of doing something to highlight the area's lively mining history. "It's exciting in this day and age to find something that hasn't been known about before," says Rita Peterson, head of the Jefferson County Historical Commission. "We want to document what's there. We don't have any funds to do anything, but we'd like to work with other organizations on this."
When Boulware thinks about Saxonia, he also ponders the South Park railroad ticket that brought the missing town to his attention. He's certain the hat check is a collector's item, a rare example of daily life on the long-lost railroad.
"To the best of my knowledge, it's the oldest hat check from that railroad that anyone probably has," says Boulware. "It dates from the early summer of 1880."
But despite his affection for the ancient ticket and the historical sleuthing it inspired, Boulware soon may part with his treasure. "I'm considering selling it on e-bay for $500," he says.
