![]() ![]() ![]() His dad passed away when he was a kid and he ran the ranch. “I was just a ranch kid and loaded up some bronzes and went to places I thought they’d sell,” Gilmore said. Gilmore has been sculpting for almost 30 years and has been working with Reis for most of that time. Gilmore met Reis when Reis had that gallery in Lionshead and the Minturn store. The life-size sculpture is a monarch bull elk - eight points per side of its rack - and it’s posed so it looks like it’s living up to its name, and headed for the High Country. They came up with a platform system that would hold 750 pounds forever. He contacted Gilmore, then hired engineer and local welder Tim Perkins to figure it out. “I thought I’d have to go with fiberglass,” he said. Reis said he wasn’t sure the building would hold a bronze statue that size. ![]() Reis and Skillman had always intended to hang an elk on the front of the building when they remodeled. So he started spending money, transforming the Trading Post into a showcase for unique antiques and art. He walked out the front door and looked up at Battle Mountain.įor no apparent reason he talked himself out of selling. Instead, he did what he does every morning. There are Coca-Cola coolers, hand-tooled saddles, a player piano and other antiques … you have to see it for yourself.Ī few years ago, Reis was considering selling the place. It’s mostly antiques with a flair for Americana. It’s not a junk shop or second-hand store either, because the stuff in there is seriously wonderful. The sign right on the wall says it’s not a museum, and it’s not. The Minturn store has always been something of a “would-you-look-at-that” kind of place. Reis opened the Battle Mountain Trading Post 37 years ago with a gallery in Lionshead and a store in Minturn. “We decided with all the remodeling, we’d go ahead with it.” “He had always wanted a life-size elk in front of his store,” Gilmore said. ![]() Artist Jim Gilmore sculpted the 550-pound bronze statue. ![]()
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