The Blue Mountain Eagle reported on the passing of Canyon City legend Francis Clemens Sels on July 17, 1908.

The article provides the illustrious biography of F.C. Sels, who built Sels’ Brewery — a Canyon City establishment still going strong today.

Sels, a founder of Canyon City, was an award-winning Canyon City brewer and banker born in Westphalia (before that part of Europe was absorbed into what became Germany in 1871) and immigrated to San Francisco at the age of 17 in 1854, according to the report.

When gold was discovered in Canyon City in 1862, Sels moved there for mining and, soon after, began work in general merchandising before selling the business to his brother in 1866. He became justice of the peace in 1866, and also became postmaster at that time. He was later elected to the state Senate and served as county treasurer, according to the 1908 article.

Sels purchased the brewery, which still stands today at 113 Washington St., in 1870. It was a major place for locals 150 years ago to socialize and have a good time. The brewery was destroyed in a fire in 1870 and Sels rebuilt the structure with stone, according to the Eagle.

Beer from Sels’ Brewery won a medal at the St. Louis World’s Fair, the newspaper reported.

“He was a progressive and public-spirited man in his younger days and a man of much force and influence,” according to the 1908 article. “In the early days, his business was burned with the rest of the town and immediately he set to work and rebuilt it with a stone building. In 1898, he was again burned out and again he came back with substantial improvements.”

Sels was president of the First National Bank of Canyon City at the time of his death in 1908, according to the Eagle.

“The death of Mr. Sels marks the passing of one of the founders of Canyon City and even the county,” the article stated. “He was among the first to reach the (mining) camp and has been identified with its progress, history and growth all his life. Every pioneer in the county knew him.”

His legacy stays alive today through the efforts of the Whiskey Gulch Gang, a local nonprofit that now owns Sels’ Brewery and opens it up a few times a year, starting with the annual ‘62 Days Celebration in June to honor the discovery of gold in the Canyon City of 1862.

The venue is a place to listen to music and enjoy food and beer and was opened most recently on Sept. 16 for the annual Oktoberfest celebration. Colby Farrell, president of the Whiskey Gulch Gang, said Oktoberfest honors Sels’ German heritage.

“Back when the building was built, this was one of the big social gathering spots for the entire area,” Farrell said. “People came to socialize and recreate because there was no TV at home.”

Farrell said Sels was a very important figure for the area in his time.

“He was also, back in the old days before an actual bank came in, he was the banker,” Farrell said. “He was really well respected and trusted. People would deposit money with him. He would give out loans and stuff like that before we had a real bank. Sels was the guy everybody trusted to handle their money.”

Neil Nisperos can be reached at 541-575-0710 or nnisperos@bluemountaineagle.com.