In 1879 the pass was traversed by the narrow gauge Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad, providing the first rail link between Denver and the South Park mining communities such as Fairplay (the tracks were removed in 1938, but the modern highway follows the old road and the railroad route over the pass - most of which is still visible). During this same year of 1879, the poet Walt Whitman crossed the pass and described its summit with these words, later published in "Specimen Days":