Silver strikes on Castle Creek in 1879 led to the founding of the first Pitkin County town. Ashcroft and its wagon road to Leadville smelters were important until 1887, when a railroad reached Aspen and it became the county's main smelter town. By 1890, Ashcroft had withered to twenty-five residents. Jack Leahey, an 1878 pioneer, poet, and self-appointed mayor, kept the town alive until his death in 1939. Ashcroft was a backdrop for a 1950s television series, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, costarring the famous huskies raised by Stuart Mace, who revived the town as a haven for dog sledding and crosscountry skiing. In 1974 the Aspen Historical Society leased the townsite from the U.S. Forest Service and stabilized and roofed the structures left standing in a lush mountain meadow. This well-embalmed mining town contrasts sharply with the lavish new resorts and homes creeping up Castle Creek.