(Photo: The original Red River Ski Area Chalet burned in the 1960s and was replaced by the current Chalet. Notice the Poma lift at left. Photo courtesy Snappy Smith at Red River Dreams.)
If you are a fan of Red River and the beautiful mountains that cradle this historic mining town that has become the Ski Town of the Southwest, you may already be aware of a website called Red River Dreams.
A site like no other, found also on Facebook and ebay, it’s a great place to purchase items, reminders of Red River’s past. Red River Dreams is the culmination of years of research and hard work by Paul “Snappy” Smith and his latest project may be his magnum opus.
Rainbows & Echoes is a photo book, 8.5×11 inches and 140 pages, with soft cover and color print. It’s printed by Amazon’s Kindle Publishing and contains over 400 postcard views of the Red River Valley through the years, 40 backside messages (they read like notes from your own family), several 1950s commercial flyers promoting the area, added photos from long time valley residents, 40 historic video views and memories of the tourist industry pioneers describing the early years as a resort (these will be viewable using a QR code link and will be downloadable or available on a CD which will be listed separately), and the original RRSA promo movie, views from Powder Puff, and archived 8mm film. There is a guide to 20+ hours of Red River historic videos on YouTube (which you can download to your device for FREE!).
In addition, notes from the Taos News and books by the pioneers, notes from the author, and a small sample of music that echoed through the valley 50 years ago is included. For more info contact Snappy at skiredriver@hotmail.com, a message via the web store or on Facebook page, at Red River Dreams.
Paul “Snappy” Smith first came to town in 1964. It would be 1971 before he moved to the mountains, managing a bar called The Doggone Saloon while working with The Supernatural Family Band, which became the house band. The group was fronted by Tommy Hancock, a man who became a West Texas music legend.
Snappy moved on when the bar became Kate & Gary’s in 1973, taking employment at the nearby Moly mine. Moving to Colorado in 1986, he was involved with Cuchara Ski Area until it closed in 2000.