In 1878, the Otto Mears toll road crossed over Marshall Pass into the Tomichi Valley at the spot that Marshalltown or Sargents would later develop. Marshalltown was laid out in 1880 because the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad was coming. Joseph Sargent had a ranch at the foot of Marshall Pass. When people began to settle there, he was made Postmaster. A few years later, Marshalltown was renamed Sargents.

In July of 1881, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad reached Sargents on its way to Gunnison. Then Sargents really started to grow. It is believed that at one time there were 50 businesses and eight saloons there. Sargents was a railroad town. There was a roundhouse and turntable, a depot, and a water tank. There were also cattle pens and a coaling chute. Area ranchers drove their cattle there to be loaded on railcars and shipped by train over Marshall Pass to points beyond. Mining in nearby Whitepine, Northstar, and the upper Tomichi Valley produced tons of ore needing to be shipped out of the valley. The ore was hauled by teams and wagons to Sargents, loaded on railcars, and shipped east. Sargents housed “helper engines” which were hooked on to the loaded trains to help pull them to the top of Marshall Pass. There were once lumber companies there cutting railroad ties and lumber for building. There were always ranches there and that is about all that still remains today. As the demand for the railroad declined, so did Sargents. When the railroad was taken out in the 1950s, Sargents all but disappeared.

Sargents is known as one of the coldest spots in the Tomichi Valley. Temperatures of -30 to -40 are not uncommon and almost expected every winter. The Sargents School House is on the Colorado Historic Register and owned by the Upper Tomichi Historical and Community Association. The old Denver and Rio Grande water tank is still standing on its original site and has been recently purchased by the Upper Tomichi Historical and Community Association. Preservation of the water tank is planned. Sargents still has a post office. There is a combination bar/café/gas station/store with cabins and a towing and repair service. There are about 25 to 30 full-time residents and upwards of 50 seasonal property owners.