Argentine Pass, elevation , is a high mountain pass that crosses the Continental Divide in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado in the United States. Argentine Pass is located on the crest of the Front Range along the boundary southwest of Georgetown and is the highest named vehicle-accessible pass in the state. Some early references use other names for the pass. An 1867 description of the trip from Georgetown into the valley of the Snake River refers to it as Sanderson Pass. A lithograph caption from 1869 calls it the Snake River Pass. Geography Argentine Pass is north of Argentine Peak and southwest of Mount Edwards. To the east is the valley of Leavenworth Creek, a tributary that joins the South Clear Creek south of Georgetown. To the west is the Horseshoe Basin, a deep glacial cirque at the head of the Peru Creek, a tributary that joins the Snake River just north of Montezuma. The continental divide at Argentine Pass serves as the boundary between Clear Creek and Summit counties. The pass was formerly used by a toll road and stagecoach route. The trail on the west side of the pass is the remains of this road. To the east, the Argentine Central Railway ran from Georgetown to the pass from 1906 to 1918. The Jeep trail to the pass follows the grade of this abandoned railroad. History On Sept. 14, 1864, former provisional territorial governor Robert Steele, along with James Huff and Robert Layton discovered silver high on the slopes of McClellan Mountain, 1.85 mi (2.97 km) north of what we now call Argentine Pass. The mountains of this region are predominantly granite and gneiss, with veins containing silver-rich galena and blende (sphalerite), as well as iron pyrite, cupriferous pyrite (chalcopyrite), and some tetrahedrite. This was the first major discovery of silver ore in Colorado. They named the deposit the Belmont Lode (from the French for beautiful mountain), and the surrounding area came to be known as the Argentine mining district (from argentum, Latin for silver). The discovery led to the growth of Georgetown as an early center of the silver mining industry in Colorado, although development was slowed by a general ignorance of how to properly treat the ore, by the high cost of transportation from the mines, and by the climate at that altitude. Eventually, both sides of the pass were heavily