USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume I > Part 31
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1904-Cripple Creek's gold output for this year was $14,504,350. Valuable discoveries were made in the Portland, Elkton, Gold Coin, Gold King and Blue Bird mines.
1905-Cripple Creek produced gold to the value of $15,411,724, a marked increase over the output of the previous year. The average was about $21.50 a ton. The Portland maintained its position of supremacy, its output being $2,- 422,033, from 109,233 tons of ore.
1906-Cripple Creek's gold output this year was $14,253,245. The banner producer of the camp, the Portland, was credited with a yield of $1,932,083, from. 103,614 tons of ore.
1907-The gold production of the camp this year was $10,913,687. The Portland's output was $1,600,950. The Golden Cycle produced 67,397 tons of ore, averaging $21.02 in value.
1908 Cripple Creek produced gold to the value of $12,740,287 this year, which saw an influx of skilled miners. Success attended cyanide experiments in treating low-grade ore. Steady progress was made in the Roosevelt drainage tunnel.
1909-The gold production of Cripple Creek this year was $11,470,673. Min- ing operations were reduced in the Portland, the Golden Cycle, El Paso and other mines.
1910-Cripple Creek's golden harvest this year was $11,002,253. The yield from the Portland mine was 67,515 tons, valued at $1,241,168.
19II-Cripple Creek's gold production fell off this year to $10,562,653. The Portland produced 50,258 tons, valued at $1,140,054, averaging $22.68 a ton.
1912-The gold production of the camp this year was $11,008,362, about three-fifths of all Colorado's gold output in 1912. The Portland's yield was 44.562 tons, valued at $987,416.
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
1913-The yield of the camp this year fell below the average, being $10,- 905,003. The Portland, the Vindicator and other mines had a prosperous year. The grand total production of the Portland mine from April 1, 1894, to Decem- ber 31, 1913, was 1,767,592 net tons, of a gross value of $36,268,797.
1914-The mines of Cripple Creek yielded $11,996,116 this year. As a re- sult of the unwatering of the mines by the Roosevelt tunnel, many large bodies of valuable ore were disclosed in the Portland, Vindicator and other mines. The richness of some of the ore found in the Cresson mine surpassed all previous records in Cripple Creek annals. In a chamber 1,265 feet below the surface "masses of decomposed quartz, filled with coarse grains of calaverite and sylvan- ite" were discovered. The amount of gold was reported to run into thousands of dollars to the ton.
1915-This year witnessed a notable gain in the gold production of the dis- trict, it being $13,683,494. Stratton's Independence mine, after producing ore to the value of $23,621,728, was sold to the Portland Gold Company. To De- cember 31, 1915, the Portland and Independence mines, comprising 250 acres of highly mineralized land, had produced 3,653,969 tons of ore; valued at $64,- 426,370.
1916-The gold output of the camp this year was about the average, being $12,199,550. This was a year of marked activity in the Cripple Creek district. The grand total production of the camp, 1891-1916, amounted to $285,245,393, according to Government figures.
1917-Gold production was $11,402,968, making the golden harvest of the camp during the past quarter of a century far over three hundred million dollars. Work progressed steadily on the Roosevelt tunnel, its total length being about 24,000 feet. The tunnel has lowered the general water level of the district ap- proximately 700 feet vertically. Deep mining was profitable in many of the mines, huge bodies of good ores being encountered at depths of 2,000 feet or more.
CRIPPLE CREEK'S GOLD PRODUCTION
Year
Bullion Value
Year
Bullion Value
1891
$ 200,000
190.4
$ 21,414.080
1892
587,310
1905
22,307,952
1893
8,750,000
1906
16,268,29I
1894
3,250,000
1907
13,148,152
1895
6,100,000
1908
16,230,525
1896
8,750,000
1909
15,850,000
1897
12,000,000
1910
11,031,555
1898
16,000,000
19II
10,593.278
1899
21,000,000
1912
II,049,024
1900
22,500,000
1913
10,948,098
1901
24,986,990
1914
12,025,364
1902
24,508,51I
1915
13,727,992
1903
17,630,107
1916
12,177,22I
1917
II,402,968
Grand Total
$357,686,178
282
HISTORY OF COLORADO
CUSTER COUNTY'S MINING HISTORY
In the winter of 1870 Richard Irwin, a well-known prospector, and a com- panion, Jasper Brown, started a camp at Rosita Springs on the site of a float quartz discovery made by Irwin in the summer of that year. The stories of his discoveries brought the prospectors in great numbers and in the spring of 1874 Leonard Fredericks had opened up the Humboldt and O'Bannion & Co. found a fortune in the Pocahontas. In 1877 the great mine first called the Maine, after- ward the Bassick, was discovered by John W. True, who had been sent there to prospect by John A. Thatcher and a group of his friends in Pueblo. Abandoning the work, it was later relocated by E. C. Bassick. He extended the shaft and later by sending a lot of eight tons to the mill was gratified to find it return him $12,000. Bassick made a fortune out of it.
In August, 1877, R. S. Edwards, a prospector who had crossed the plains pushing a wheelbarrow, came to the site of what is now Silver Cliff, and located Horn Silver, Racine Boy and Silver Cliff mines. This was just before the Lead- ville craze broke loose. In 1880 the entire region was flooded with prospectors looking for carbonates. The discoveries of Edwards were soon bruited about and Silver Cliff became the site of a veritable stampede. Many good properties were located in this period on Wet Mountain. The Hardscrabble district, which includes Silver Cliff, Querida, West Cliff and Rosita, is still a fine mining section.
As early as 1875 mill building commenced, reached its zenith in 1880, and closed in 1882. The belief entertained at the beginning of the mill building era was, as the industry advanced, changed to conviction, viz .: That each mine must have a mill. This, with the fabulous prices asked for undeveloped claims, dis- couraged investment of capital and development of prospects. The result was that both capital and prospectors sought other fields, where, from reports re- ceived, they had reason to believe less capital or labor was required to gain re- munerative returns. The aggregate amount of money expended in mill building in this section was not less than one and one-half million dollars. With a few notable exceptions, the plants erected were total failures. Even some of the exceptions were financial failures if successful from a metallurgical standpoint. The decline in the mining industry, started in 1881, was not only accelerated by one mill failure after another, but also by litigation, that eventually closed the leading developed and regular producing properties. This condition can in no manner be ascribed to the natural mineral resources of the county, but is di- rectly attributable to "boom times" and mills.
In 1915 the advance in the price of silver had a splendid influence on prop- erties all through the Hardscrabble district.
IN THE REGION OF RICO
The mining history of this section centers about Rico, the present county seat and leading commercial center. It practically begins with the year 1879. Since that time the mines at or near Rico have demonstrated Dolores to be one of the important mining counties of the state. Like all mining sections it has been more active at certain periods than others, but at no time since 1880 has it
CRIPPLE CREEK MINES
284
HISTORY OF COLORADO
failed to contribute its quota of precious metals toward the aggregate production of the commonwealth. The predominating value in the ores is in silver, which occurs in all the richer sulphide forms, at times native, but generally associated with lead, iron, copper and zinc, in a quartz gangue. Although the mines were formerly spoken of as silver-lead producers, and the general impression was es- tablished that gold was not associated in appreciable quantities, under present market conditions, and with somewhat recent developments, the producers of this section are now ranked as gold-silver-lead mines. In common with many other districts in the state a number of mines are operating largely upon ores in which gold values predominate.
The discovery of gold dates back to 1869, when Sheldon Shafer and Joe Flarheiler, who had reached Santa Fé, decided to go to Montana. They made the reservation that only the discovery of mineral could stop them. They were ex- perienced prospectors and had no sooner reached the region of what is now Silver Creek when the evidence was clear that they were on the eve of a precious metal discovery. In July, 1869, they made their first location, embracing what is now a part of the Shamrock, Smuggler and Riverside lodes of the old Atlantic Cable group. . This they called the Pioneer. Soon after they discovered north- east of the Town of Rico the "Phoenix" and the "Nigger Baby." They also located what was later the Yellow Jacket, the Amazon, the Pelican and the Elec- tric Light mines. The district soon attracted attention and settlers began to pour in and locate claims. In the spring of 1879 Col. J. C. Haggerty on a visit to Ouray found that some ore from "Nigger Baby" hill proved to be lead car- bonates very rich in silver. The neighboring camps of Ouray, Silverton, Ophir and San Miguel emptied their hundreds into the Rico region. But the boom was brief.
In 1880 the Grand View smelter was built, and in the fall of the same year produced some high grade bullion. This afforded assurance of the permanency of the district, and the development was more rapid for a few years following. The grade of ore necessary to bear reduction charges, and high prices for sup- plies were again felt, and progress was slow until the advent of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad. This line leaves the Rio Grande system at Ridgeway and ex- tends to Durango, via Rico. With transportation facilities the development was rapid until the value of silver and lead reached the low range of prices of 1893. A large number of producers then either reduced working force or closed down entirely. Probably no district in the state was as seriously affected as this. The recovery has been slow but sure and, in common with other counties.
EAGLE COUNTY'S MINING HISTORY
While what is now Eagle County had been previously explored, the history of the active development of its natural resources begins with 1879. This year marked the great rush to the Leadville district, which joins on the south. The discovery of ores similar in character and occurrence along Eagle River served in a small degree to relieve the pressure at Leadville, and to quickly populate this section. Its establishment, therefore, may be ascribed to the overflow pros- pectors from Leadville. The first valid locations were made early in 1879. The ore production was limited on account of grade of ore necessary to bear trans-
285
HISTORY OF COLORADO
portation and treatment charges. In 1880 a smelting plant was erected and pro- vided a home market. This plant produced a large amount of lead bullion, but ceased operation soon after the advent of the Rio Grande Railway, early in 1882.
The first actual lode claims discovered and staked were in the names of Rob- ert and John Duncan, who on April 15, 1879, thought they had made their for- tunes in the Eagle River mining district. The Belden, located May 5, 1879, by D. D. Belden and Price Merrick, was the first to produce profitable ores in large quantities. In that first year a hundred claims were staked near Gilman. The Wyoming group near Redcliff was among the locations of the first period.
THE BEGINNINGS OF EL PASO COUNTY MINING
The history of this section begins practically with the year 1859. At that time Pike's Peak was a name more familiar than Colorado, and this section there- fore received a large proportion of the immigrants from the eastern states. Colorado City, located near the base of Pike's Peak and the entrance to Ute Pass, became temporarily the leading town of the territory and its importance was enhanced by being made the first territorial capital. Later the seat of gov- ernment was removed to Golden, in Jefferson County, and finally to Denver. The removal of the capital from Colorado City in 1861 was followed by a some- what continued depression. The Pike's Peak placer mines had not proven lucra- tive and the prospectors moved on to the west and north. In the fall of 1871 the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad reached this section, producing a marked change in existing conditions.
There was formed in those early days the El Paso Claims Club, which had its law offices, and in fact was the government of this section. It was primitive but it served its purpose as a preventive to "claim jumping." H. T. Burghout, with the title of recorder, had all the powers of a judge.
In common with the Front Range of mountains in other sections, the range here is traversed with eruptive dikes and embraces fissure veins carrying precious metals. Prospecting is indulged in, a few veins are located and worked to the extent of annual assessment, but the ore values appear to be too low to permit of extraction and reduction at a profit. While ores of economic importance are not as yet found within the new western limit of the county, this section has long been noted for its rare minerals, notably at Pike's Peak, Florissant and Buffalo Peak.
FREMONT COUNTY-ITS OIL AND ITS MINERALS
The discovery of oil in Fremont County dates back to 1859, when Joseph Lamb, a pioneer, claims to have first investigated a flow of oil half a mile above the mouth of Oil Creek Canon. The man who, however, located and perfected his claim to Oil Springs, was Gabriel Bowen, who, in 1862, sold them to A. M. Cassidy. In March of that year Mr. Cassidy sunk six wells but only the original upper strata proved profitable. In that first year he marketed several thousand gallons. But many wells were sunk and much capital was brought into the field before it made any commensurate returns. The great trouble generally lay in
286
HISTORY OF COLORADO
the weakness of the casing material and few of the prospecting companies reached any depth without accident.
In 1880 D. G. Peabody put down the first well in what is now part of the Town of Florence, and what was then known as Lobach's farm. In 1882 his company, which consisted of George O. Baldwin, J. J. Phelps, Ed. Lobach, Thomas Willey, W. B. McGee, E. B. Alling and himself, secured a great number of leases and began boring with new outfits shipped from Pennsylvania. On April 7, 1883, at a depth of 1,205 feet oil was discovered. The strike brought a great horde of prospectors to Florence, but the Peabody Company, while it struck oil again on several of its leases, never prospered.
By 1890 the field had been greatly developed and large capitalists were in control. The United Oil Company, with N. P. Hill as president, D. P. Ellis, J. Wallace, S. F. Rathvon, I. E. Blake, John Coon and S. Josephi, owned 2,200 acres of patented land and 38,000 acres of oil rights and leases. They had fifteen flowing wells, with a daily output of 850 barrels. It owned a refinery with daily capacity of 1,500 barrels.
The Florence Oil & Refining Company, headed by A. H. Danforth and con- trolled by himself and A. R. Gumaer, W. E. Johnson, Dr. E. C. Gray, T. M. Harding and Frank M. Brown, had eleven productive wells with a daily output of 500 barrels. It also owned a refinery.
The Triumph Oil Company, Ira Canfield, president, The Rocky Mountain Oil Company, Dan P. Ellis, president, The Colorado Coal & Iron Company, and a new company headed by Henry and Edward O. Wolcott and holding leases on 21,000 acres of the Beaver Land Company, were the other corporations actually at work in the field.
At the close of the year 1902 there were fifty-seven wells producing. There were two local refineries, with a combined capacity of about two thousand bar- rels per day. The following were the producing companies: Florence Oil Re- fining Company, Triumph Oil Company, Griffith, Rock Mountain, Fraser Oil and Gas Company, Fremont Oil and Gas Company, Keystone, Columbia Crude Oil Company and United Oil Company.
The oil appears to be found at different geological horizons, the Fox Hill shales underlying the coal measures being the most productive. The oils from the various wells do not differ greatly in character. A number of tests published, and made by competent chemists, show the naphtha and benzine to be about 4 to 6 per cent; of illuminating oils, 25 to 35; paraffine and heavy oils, 55 to 60; and a residuum, mainly coal tar, 6 to 7 per cent. The refined products are consumed by the western trade, and the residuum is utilized for fuel purposes.
In 1904 N. M. Fenneman, in a report to the U. S. Geological Survey, states that there were 500 wells in the district, which had an area of approximately fif- teen square miles. The deepest well in the field he found to be 3,650 feet, but no oil sand had been found below 3,090 feet. Of the 500 wells he enumerates, 60 were pumping, and 175 had been producers. In his concluding paragraph he states: "The average life of a well is not far from five years. Many wells have yielded oil for from ten to twenty years. One well has been pumped for a still longer time, and has yielded more than one million barrels of oil. The product is for the most part refined at Florence." In 1901 it produced 17,000,000 gallons.
In 1907 the Florence field produced 263,498 barrels, valued at $197,025.00.
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
In 1908 it was 295,479 barrels; in 1909, 225,062 barrels; in 1910, 201,937 bar- rels; in 1911, 210,094 barrels; in 1912, 201,195 barrels; in 1913, 6,785,000 gal- lons ; in 1914, 6,854,799 gallons; in 1915, 6,039,507 gallons; in 1916, 5,058,615 gallons; in 1917, 4,442,095 gallons. On January 1, 1912, there were fifty-four wells producing. In January, 1918, there were forty-three wells producing.
The producing properties in the Florence field are today owned by the Conti- nental, a Standard Oil subsidiary.
Since 1881 the precious metal mines have been more or less active and pro- ductive. The production, however, has never been large, and the mines may be said to have scarcely passed the prospective stage of development. The original mines, or those that first attracted general attention, were in the neighborhood of Cotopaxi and on Grape Creek. The Gem mine, near this stream, gained much notoriety on account of nickel being found associated with silver ores.
Following the advent of the Cripple Creek mines in the adjoining county on the north, the northern part of Fremont County was the scene of much prospect work, which gradually worked westward and centered mainly about Whitehorn and the Cameron districts. There are a number of small camps in this part of the county bearing local names, and in the aggregate a large amount of devel- opment work has been done. The ores are mainly gold-copper, in a quartzose gangue. In the section immediately south of the Cripple Creek district a num- ber of properties have been worked extensively.
Mining for gems and precious stones is carried on profitably in this county.
THE MINING HISTORY OF GUNNISON COUNTY
Gold was discovered in the Tin Cup and Washington Gulch districts during 1861 by an adventurous prospector named Fred Lottes, In 1879 the reports cir- culated by prospectors were so favorable that, during the following year, there was a "rush" to this district second to none in the history of the state. Mining camps sprang up at numerous points, and were followed by the usual number of ill-advised smelting plants and mills. Precious metal ores were found in abundance, but development was too meager to supply the demands of a smelter, and transportation of ores to outside markets, even in concentrated form, left small margin of profit. The toll on freight at this time was more often calculated by the pound than by the ton.
The "rush" of 1880-81 to this section was second to none in the state's his- tory. Towns sprang up in all districts of the county; the mountains were filled with prospectors, who, through specimen assays, kept the excitement at high pitch ; the "boom" was launched and maintained; capital followed and sought investment on the "boom" basis, and smelters and mills were erected at enor- mous outlay. It was finally realized that the ores, while abundant, were in the main low grade, and that under economic conditions then extant, profits from in- vestments made could not be expected. The exodus during the next few years was almost equal to the rush of 1880. No county in the state, as prolific in nat- ural resources, has suffered from a "boom" as severely as Gunnison. This sec- tion, however, did not prove an exception to "mining boom" history, and many good pay mines were discovered and opened. These in a measure served to re- lieve the general depression, and each year from 1885 to 1892 showed gradual
288
HISTORY OF COLORADO
increased activity in all the districts. Until this time, the production of lead-silver ores received almost undivided attention. With the then current price for these metals, profitable mining was impossible except in isolated cases. Prospecting ceased and small producers closed. As in other counties, attention was turned to prospecting for gold. While the existence of gold was well known, it had, prior to this time received little attention. The results have been satisfactory.
During the past decade there has been a great deal of prospecting done par- ticularly in the Tin Cup, White Pine and Vulcan districts. In 1914 dredging operations were begun in the Taylor Park district.
THE MINING HISTORY OF GRAND COUNTY
Owing to inaccessibility for many years prior to the construction of the Moffat Road, this section has produced but a limited quantity of precious metals. History shows this section to have been the scene of much prospecting in 1859. At that time, and for a number of years afterwards, it was one of the favorite hunting grounds for the Indians. The reported discoveries at different times since then have caused an influx of more or less people, and in the aggregate a con- siderable amount of development work has been done. At one time Lulu, in the extreme northeast corner, became quite a flourishing camp. Also, Gaskill, at the mouth of Baker Gulch, a few miles south. At the former camp the veins are in granite-gneiss, are locally well defined, but the copper-iron-sulphide ores, carry- ing gold, with some silver, appear to occur in short shoots or pockets so far as exposed by meager development. Up Baker Gulch the veins are much better de- fined and ore deposits are more persistent. The Wolverine properties and a number of others, names unknown, showed fair bodies of low-grade sulphide ore. In the vicinity of Grand Lake there has been quite an amount of prospect work.
The Ready Cash group, that has been a good producer of high-grade silver and lead ores since 1880 is still operating with good profits. This group is situ- ate near the line between Grand and Clear Creek counties, and the ore is hauled by wagon over Jones Pass to Empire station, and thence via the Colorado & Southern Railroad.
The Mollie Groves group has been systematically developed since 1906, and is a copper proposition carrying some gold and silver values. It is situate on Elk Mountain, in the Blue Ridge district, and is fifteen miles from the Town of Parshall, on the Moffat Railroad.
In 1878-79 some very promising silver prospects were discovered in the Rabbit Ear Range, which is about twenty-five miles northwest of the Hot Sul- phur Springs. Considerable work was done at the time, but all were abandoned on account of the long haul and the low price of silver.
The first actual discovery of gold in the county was made by a prospector, Sandy Campbell, in this very Rabbit Ear Range. - The report of his discoveries brought the first considerable influx of prospectors into the camp. The Town of Teller in North Park had a large population at this time. In the fight for the county seat between Hot Springs and Grand Lake, in 1883, four of the county commissioners were killed; the sheriff, implicated in the trouble, later committing suicide.
VIEW OF THE CITY OF GOLDEN AS IT APPEARED IN OR ABOUT THE YEAR 1874
Vol 1-19
290
HISTORY OF COLORADO
HINSDALE IN THE SAN JUAN COUNTRY
The history of this section practically begins with 1874, when the first valid mineral locations were made. The population rapidly increased until 1879, when the effects of inaccessibility to market were fully realized. In 1889 the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad constructed a branch line into Lake City, the county seat and commercial center of the county. This branch leaves the main line at Sapinero and follows up the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River, and trains for Lake City are operated so as to connect with main line trains. Following the advent of transportation facilities, there was a marked revival in all the mining districts. The general depression of 1893 again retarded advancement, for the reason that nearly all ores developed at that time were lead, silver and copper. Since 1894 the advance has been steady, and, in common with many other sec- tions, the existence of gold-bearing ores has been demonstrated.
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