 Most of the first miners at the Winter Quarters were Mormon converts from the coal districts of Wales, England and Scotland.One of them, David Williams, leased the Winter Quarters Mine from the Pleasant Valley Coal Company from 1880 to 1885, operating in the dual capacity of mine manager and bishop of the local LDS ward.When the Rio Grande Western Railway acquired the coal company, they undertook the development of a new mine on Mud Creek, a mile from Winter Quarters, much to the chagrin of Williams, who protested that the new mine infringed on his lease.