History of Colorado; Volume I, Part 30

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 954

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Among the eager exploiters of Colorado's mineral resources who ventured

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into the San Juan in 1875 was David W. Brunton, whose interesting "Remin- iscences" appeared in the Mining and Scientific Press (November 27, 1915). This capable mining engineer roughed it in the wilderness about Mineral Point on a ridge separating the headwaters of the Animas and Uncompahgre rivers. In his journeys on foot, or astride the patient burro, he tramped over or came near many a spot afterward celebrated for its mines and diggings. He found the andesitic mountain sides seamed with veins, whose outcropping streaks may be seen from afar as white lines of remarkable continuity. On some of the mountains, King Solomon in particular, the metalliferous veins can be seen for miles.

The San Juan is a great mining country, being ribbed with' heavy mineral deposits. Many a time the prospector "struck it rich" in the '8os and '90s. Often he was disappointed when, instead of a fortune, he found a mass of low-grade ore. A new era began with the completion of the Durango and Silverton Railway in 1882. The Red Mountain and Silverton Railroad, finished in 1888, has helped the development of the county, which has an area of 438 square miles. It is interesting for its geological formations. "The San Juan Mountains are volcanic, with an area of quartzite peaks in their midst, and flanking the range on the south is an area of carboniferous and cretaceous rocks."

The search for precious metals began in La Plata County as early as 1861. At that time placer mines were alone sought and the history of the pioneers is that of great hardships endured and dangers encountered. In 1873 ditches were constructed near the old site of Animas City, and some gold was re- covered from the placer deposits in that section. More recent attempts have been made at various places, but the gold is generally fine, hard to recover, and exists in limited amounts over comparatively large areas. Owing to the great interest in the adjoining San Juan counties, there was but little prospecting for gold and silver deposits in veins in the La Plata Mountains prior to 1878. Since that time nearly all of the numerous gulches have been scenes of more or less excitement. Following meager development the usual proportion of ill- advised mills have been erected, and served to retard rather than advance active mining operations. The ores of this district are mainly gold-bearing pyrite or telluride compounds.

BOULDER COUNTY'S ARGONAUTS

Among the Fifty-eighters who crossed the plains to the "Pike's Peak gold region" was a company of adventurers that camped in the shadow of old Fort St. Vrain, October 17, 1858. Some of them climbed to the top of the walls of the old trading post and had an enchanting vision of Boulder Valley, whither they proceeded instead of going to Denver. These men-Capt. Thomas Aikins, Charles Clouser and others-were the pioneer settlers of what is now Boulder County. Having built their cabins, they explored a nearby canyon where they found a considerable deposit of placer gold on the 15th day of January, 1859. They named the point Gold Hill, which afterward became a noted mining dis- trict. Out of the gold gravel of this gulch it is said that they took $100,000 that season.

Then valuable quartz lodes were discovered. The Horsfal was the greatest

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of the mines of early days, yielding over $300,000 in the two years 1861-2. It was near Gold Hill that the first stamp-mill in Pike's Peak country was set up in the fall of 1859. Other stamp-mills followed, and a multitude of diggers were busy washing out golden sands of the streams. Mining · camps sprang up and were deserted as soon as the placers were worked out. Then for a number of years, there was not much doing in the mines of Boulder County, although farming proved to be a success in the bottom lands along the streams. Says Hall: "There was no revival of interest in the mining fields until 1869-72, when some of the richest veins of tellurium ores known in the world's history were discovered, together with veins of very rich silver mines at Cari- bou. Other discoveries followed until a great belt of silver-bearing veins (but none of gold) was opened."

In other sections, gold mines were profitably worked, and the mineral in- dustry amounted to a good deal in Boulder County, its annual production of the precious metals reaching a half million dollars or more. Says State Geologist J. A. Smith in his report for 1881 and 1882: "For ten years, Boulder County has produced gold and silver in large quantities and about equal proportions. In 1881, the bullion product was $535.482.88. *

* It is sufficient to say that, as a rule, the veins are true fissures in gigantic rocks, continuous and well defined to the greatest depths thus far attained. Caribou district, situate in the southwestern corner of the county, yields the major part of silver, the main sources being the Caribou and No Name mines, both quite extensively de- veloped." The total output of gold and silver in 1879 was about $800,000.

In Boulder County, telluride ores-both auriferous and argentiferous-have been found in greater abundance than anywhere else. Some of its mines have yielded ore running from $3,000 to $5,000 a ton. The tellurium belt extends through Gold Hill, Sunshine, Magnolia and Sugar Loaf districts. It is twenty miles long and from three to six miles wide. It lies to the north of the silver district. Among the noted telluride mines are the American, the Cold Spring, the Red Cloud and the Smuggler. Many choice specimens of Boulder's telluride ores have been placed in mineral collections.

In 1900, deposits of ores containing the somewhat rare mineral known as tungsten were discovered in and around the town of Nederland in the south- western part of Boulder County. This metal is valuable as an alloy in steel tools and is used in the manufacture of incandescent electric lamps. Of late years, from sixty to eighty per cent of the tungsten produced in the United States has come from the mines of Boulder County, which produces one- seventh or more of the world's tungsten output annually. The principal part of the tungsten area lies in the southwestern quarter of Boulder County. In the fifteen years-1901-15, Boulder County has given the world tungsten to the value of over five million dollars. Boulder's tungsten mines were credited with the extraordinary production of $1,625,000 in 1915.

It is said that Gilpin County was the place where history was first made in Colorado. Boulder County. is also historic ground. One of the first counties organized in 1861, it has figured prominently in Colorado annals. Here is the home of the State University, whose foundations were laid in pioneer times, the first building for academic work being opened in 1877. Here was the first schoolhouse, erected in 1860. To Boulder belongs the honor of having the Vol. I-18

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first mining district and formulating a code of laws for local government. Its coal fields were worked in the early '60s. A railroad was completed to Boulder City in 1874.

The western half of Boulder County is mountainous and contains the metalli- ferous mines. While not a great mining county, its mineral resources are di- versified, and its gold veins have yielded good returns without the excitement of booms. No exact estimate of the yellow metal has been made, there being gaps in the statistics. The State Bureau of Mines in its biennial reports gives the following figures as to the gold production of Boulder County during the eighteen years, 1897-1914, as follows:

1897

$512,657

1906

$254,034

1898

581,302

1907

184,872

1899

547,858

1908

173,480

1900

607,015

1909 161,838

190I

774,298

1910

132,909

1902

538,701

I9II

163,051

1903

431,568

1912

101,446

1904

411,581

1913

51,467

1905

355,337

1914

131,024

The silver production of Boulder County's mines has fluctuated from $15,000 in 1908 to $125,000 in 1914. The annual yield of the white metal the past years has averaged about $45,000.

The item of lead cuts no figure in mining in Boulder County, the yearly average being slightly over $6,000. The harvest of copper is still less; no zinc.

These are the mining districts of Boulder County: Central (Jamestown)- gold and silver; Gold Hill-gold, silver, lead, copper; Grand Island (Caribou), Eldora-gold, silver, lead, manganese, copper; Magnolia-gold, silver, tungsten; Nederland-tungsten; Sugarloaf-gold, silver, tungsten, lead, copper; World- gold, silver, copper, lead.

Some leading dates may be given, showing the steps of progress in Boulder County in pioneer and Territorial days.

1858-On October 27 gold seekers pitch their tents at the mouth of Boulder Cañon.

1859-Placer gold discovered at Gold Hill, January 15. Other diggings were uncovered later in the winter. The town of Boulder laid out in February.

1861-Boulder County, one of the original seventeen counties, organized.

1869-A prospector named William Martin discovers valuable silver ore. Con- ger and other fortune hunters make rich strikes near by, all in true-fissure veins.

1870-The Idaho and other silver mines discovered in the vicinity of the Caribou. Bullion obtained this year estimated at $130,000; total amount prior to this year being $950,000.

1871-Caribou mill built at Nederland, costing $100,000. Metallic product of Boulder County, $250,000 this year.

1872-Gold and silver yield estimated at $346,000, mostly silver. Red Cloud gold mine discovered on Gold Hill.

1873-Output of mines about $390,000 ; little gold.

1874-Metallic harvest amounts to $536,000. Boulder City growing rapidly;

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HISTORY OF COLORADO

railroad completed. D. C. Patterson finds tellurium ore in lode named Sunshine. The American lode discovered in May.

1875-The Caribou mine produces $204,000. The Dives, Pelican and Poca- hontas mines also large producers. Output of precious metals, $605,000; quanti- ties of gold increasing.

1876-Gold production picks up rapidly because of tellurium discoveries. Silver yield declines. Smelters and mills established. The Smuggler lode un- covered by Charles Mullen.

The Boulder settlers saw flush times in the early '60s. Then ensued a period of depression, due to the decline of placer mining and to the Indian troubles from which Colorado suffered for five years. After the opening of the smelter at Blackhawk, in 1868, mining picked up. Boulder miners were prospering when the plainsmen were suffering a setback from the ravages of grasshoppers in 1873-4-5-6. Those were great days for the Boulderites. They were digging fortunes out of the earth. Railroads and towns were building. Men were dream- ing great dreams.

CRIPPLE CREEK PROVES A WORLD WONDER

The Cripple Creek mining district, to the southwest of Pike's Peak, is the greatest gold camp in the United States. It ranks second only to the famed Witwatersrand of the Transvaal, in South Africa. Cripple Creek has had a history stranger than fiction, and who can foretell the future of this "three- hundred-million-dollar cow pasture."

The rush to Pike's Peak, in 1859-60, was the first determined attack of gold seekers upon the wilderness about this historic mountain. Some of the "Pilgrims" of that far-off time tramped over the grassy hills of what is now Cripple Creek, without suspecting the existence of an El Dorado beneath their feet. No other treasure was revealed near by, and the quest was speedily abandoned. This is not surprising, because the gold-bearing ore of the section is different from that found in most other Colorado diggings. So the Golconda of Cripple Creek re- mained unknown.

Robert Womack, familiarly known as Bob Womack, was the discoverer of gold in the Cripple Creek section. The story of his find and subsequent de- velopments is one of the romances of mining that are real history. In the late '8os the Cripple Creek region was a lonely cattle ranch. Bob Womack was a herder riding the range where Cripple Creek is situated. Time and again he got off his horse and picked up a piece of float rock, thinking it might possibly con- tain gold. Some of these pieces of float rock did have traces of gold. He took them to Colorado Springs, but he could not succeed in interesting capitalists. No one believed the district whence they came was a bonanza. Womack never lost faith, however; and put in his spare time prospecting. It is said that "he built a little log cabin in what is known as Poverty Gulch," and whenever he could get away he would go up on the land where he found the float rock and dig for gold. It might be said that Womack made the discovery of gold at Cripple Creek so long ago as 1889, and he found some more in 1890. He did not get gold ore in paying quantities, however, but he kept on trying. He pegged out a claim and dubbed it "Chance." The cowboys only laughed at him, but he did not lose faith.

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One day in January, 1891, he picked up a piece of float rock that looked good ; he sent it to an assayer, who reported that it went $250 in gold to the ton. Several days later he struck a vein that glistened with sylvanite. It was deposited in such an unusual manner, it is not surprising that experienced prospectors did not discover it. This deposit was later known as El Paso lode of the Gold King Co., one of the most valuable properties in the camp.

This was the first gold discovery in Cripple Creek that amounted to anything. It is to be remembered that Hayden's geological party looked about here for the royal metal, in 1874, and narrowly missed running across gold. The general prospecting that followed the stampede to Leadville brought fortune hunters to this district ; they looked the ground over, never noticing the inconspicuous vein outcroppings. In the spring of 1884 a "salted" mine on Mount Pisgah started an excitement, and 2,000 miners caniped in the vicinity for a short time. As the story runs, a shaft "had been shot full of gold and then offered for sale as a wonderful prospect."

Untold ages ago a volcano formed a chasm in Cripple Creek plateau and piled up masses of granite and lava. The gold veins occur in the volcanic rocks of the district, which is about six miles square and has an elevation from nine thousand feet and upward above sea level. Here the first great deposit of gold telluride was discovered.

Womack's great find set him wild. He made a hasty trip to Colorado Springs and loaded up with bad liquor. While half crazed with drink and success, he disposed of his bonanza for $500 in cash. He jumped on his broncho and rode through the streets, proclaiming his find. In a few days the cow pasture was literally swarming with people. Claims were staked out, and Mount Pisgah again became a scene of hustling activity. This time it was no wildcat excitement that attracted capitalists; it was the beginning of the most celebrated gold camp of the Rockies. Cripple Creek is a veritable treasure vault, and yet the discoverer, poor Bob Womack, never realized anything out of the find that brought princely fortunes to scores of men. He died in poverty.

There was at first no wild stampede of miners to the scene of Womack's dis- covery. In April and May, 1891, a number of men from Colorado Springs lo- cated claims in the new district. About forty prospectors were there then, but more came in the summer.

On the 4th of July, 1891, Winfield Scott Stratton staked out the Independence and Martha Washington claims, which soon lifted him from poverty to affluence. Other prospectors made notable finds that summer.

By October a straggling settlement of log cabins and tents had grown up in Squaw Gulch, on Anaconda ground and on the site of the present Town of Cripple Creek. Lots sold for $25 and $50. A mining district was organized in the fall, and it was named after the little stream which had been dubbed Cripple Creek from the fact that several men living thereabouts had met with accidents of one kind or another.

The growth of the place thereafter was simply remarkable. In the spring of 1892 its population was over four thousand, it had a big hotel, business blocks were building, a newspaper was started, there were saloons galore, electric lights, etc. Men who knew little or nothing about mining were making and losing fortunes in a day. "The people actually went wild," remarks a newspaper man

CRIPPLE CREEK MINES

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who was there .. "All of the trading was curbstone, and the streets were crowded with excited people." Some incidents of the excitement may be mentioned. "Gold King stock was put on the market at 25 cents, and twenty-five thousand shares were sold immediately. It soon went to 60 cents a share. Buena Vista went from $1.75 a share in one day to $5 a share."

It is said that the Blue Bell was the first mine discovered and opened. It was discovered and opened by Dick Langford. Among the pioneer mines were the Hub, Ironclad, Marguerite, Princess, Star of the West, Tam O'Shanter and a score of others opened in 1892. The mining agitation of that year resulted in the discovery of new "gold fields" in the adjacent country. The would-be camps near Manitou and other localities in various directions from Cripple Creek never panned out much ; they were only shallow placer grounds.

Not much had been heard of Cripple Creek in 1891, although it had attracted many adventurers, some of whom made important strikes. In discovering and developing the Independence mine, Stratton did more than any other man to make the camp known. The fame of this bonanza district soon traveled to the ends of the earth, and Stratton's name was indissolubly linked with America's greatest gold camp.

In 1891, Cripple Creek's output was only a trifle. From that time its produc- tion of the royal metal rapidly increased. Previous to that year Colorado's yield of gold had never exceeded $5,000,000 a year. Thenceforth the harvest of the yellow metal in the Centennial State began to pick up. The stream of gold poured out of the mines of Cripple Creek saved Colorado in the lean years of the 'gos. Colorado's gold production (in round numbers) jumped from $5,000,000 in 1892 to $28,000,000 in 1900. The latter year the mines of Cripple Creek had $18,000,000 to their credit, or over two-thirds of Colorado's total yield of gold in 1900. Some years in the 'gos Cripple Creek's gold output exceeded that of the remainder of the state. During the first decade of the camp, 1891-1900, its total production of gold amounted to $77,274,872. In this decade the population of the district had increased from less than a hundred to over ten thousand.

Through all these years Stratton had been a dominating personality in the life and development of Cripple Creek. There were, however, other brainy men who helped in making it a great mining camp. There was an army of pro- moters, mining engineers and mine superintendents who contributed to the pros- perity of Cripple Creek. Among them a dozen may be named-F. M. Symes, J. W. O'Brien, Philip Argall, William Weston, John Stark, R. A. Tregarthen, W. M. Bainbridge, Milo Hoskins, Joseph Luxon, Sam Strong, Warren Woods, J. R. McKinnie, Irving Howbert, E. M. De La Vergne and Verner Z. Reed. Cripple Creek gold had made many millionaires. The treasure taken from the mines had done much for the upbuilding of Colorado Springs and Denver; it had aided the growth of the entire commonwealth. The stimulus of this bonanza camp was felt throughout the whole Rocky Mountain region.

From the start many of the mining ventures in the Cripple Creek district were successful because men found high-grade ore at grass roots in paying quantities. Much of it ran from $50 to $250 a ton. The ore has been described as "altered and enriched rock." The deeper they went, the more productive the mine became in numerous instances, and the profits were much larger than in some other gold camps of the state. The vein-structure at Cripple Creek is peculiar. So some

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investors were skeptical and wary, even after the mines had produced gold to the value of tens of millions.

While the gold-bearing district of Teller County includes about one hundred and thirty square miles, the noted mines are congregated in the hills and valleys within a small area. There are over one hundred different mines here, some of them having tunnels over half a mile long and shafts more than two thousand feet deep. Among the large producers are Stratton's Independence, Cresson, Golden Cycle, Granite, Ajax, Elkton, Findlay, Vindicator, El Paso, Isabella, Mary McKinney and the Portland.

There is a group of great mines in this golden crest of the continent, and the Portland is the foremost. The story of the Portland is well worth telling. The news of Womack's discovery attracted James F. Burns and James Doyle, who came to Colorado, in the '8os, from Portland, Maine. A friend kindly grub- staked them to do a little prospecting in the new gold camp. That was in 1882. "In course of time Doyle found a little unclaimed triangular piece of ground and staked it as the Portland in honor of his old home. John Harnan combined with Doyle and Burns, and by their partiality his name was also written on the stake. They opened up rich ore almost immediately, but kept still about it, for their little bit of a claim was so surrounded by conflicting surveys they were in danger every minute. For weeks they carried sacks of ore, mined during the day, on their backs at night, down the trails to wagons, whence it was hauled away to the mills and smelters." The men soon found themselves in possession of riches and bought adjoining claims. Presently they had lawsuits on their hands. Then Doyle sold his interest. The others stayed with the property and reaped a handsome reward, for during the last twenty-four years the Portland has given the world bullion to the value of over $40,000,000. Its dividends up to January I, 1918, have amounted to $11,047,000.

Undoubtedly the Portland is the most celebrated mine in this far-famed gold- bearing zone of the Centennial State. Its underground area of mineral territory, over two hundred acres, is honeycombed with tunnels, drifts and crosscuts. The workings extend under the summit and the northern slope of Battle Mountain, directly north of the Town of Victor. In 1894 the present company was organ- ized with a capital of $3,000,000. About one hundred men were employed at that time, and it was shipping sixty tons of smelting ore daily. From time to time new pay shoots and ore bodies were encountered, and the extent of under- ground workings was increased until a force of more than five hundred men were employed. In 1904 its output was 100,000 tons of ore, about one-sixth of the total production of Cripple Creek. Up to the time of the discovery of ore of ex- traordinary value in the Cresson mine, in December, 1914, the Portland was the banner producer of the camp.

Other Cripple Creek mines have achieved eminence in gold production. For instance, the Mary McKinney holdings, comprising about one hundred and forty- four acres on Raven and Gold hills, have added over $10,000,000 to the money of the country, while the Elkton has a still larger sum to its credit.

It would require a volume to relate in detail all the happenings of the Cripple Creek camp the last fifteen years. Some of the principal events are jotted down concisely.

1901-The gold production of Cripple Creek this year was $17,261,579, accord-

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ing to figures given in the U. S. Geological Survey report for 1901. Stratton's Independence Mine produced about $2,500,000, from which a profit of over $1,- 000,000 was realized. Notable improvements were made in this mine. The pro- duction of the Portland was $2,408,413, the profit being $1,760,939.

1902-This year Cripple Creek produced gold to the value of $16,912,783. A lower grade of ore was handled than in 1901. There were heavy shipments from Stratton's Independence mine. Rich discoveries were made in the lower workings of the Blue Bird and the Last Dollar mines. Preparations were made to draw on an extensive area of the district between the Gold King and Elkton and El Paso.

1903-The gold production of the district this year was $12,967,338, a con- siderable falling-off from the preceding year. Labor troubles greatly interfered with mining in Cripple Creek; there were strikes, and some mines were oper- ated under military protection. Stratton's Independence mine produced 200 tons of low-grade ore daily. Its total production reached the sum of $11,000,000 since its acquisition by the Stratton's Independence, Limited. Its dividends amounted to $260,000 this year. The Portland declared dividends of $360,000, realized from 90,000 tons of ore valued at $2,609,000. The Golden Cycle, Strong, and Vindicator mines yielded large returns. Two cyanide mills were built this year in Cripple Creek. A re-survey of the district was begun in June by Messrs. Lindgren and Ransome. The El Paso drainage tunnel was dug at an expense of $80,000.

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History of Colorado; Volume I, Part 30

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Number of Pages: 954

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 954