USA > Colorado > Larimer County > History of Larimer County, Colorado > Part 28
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In 1883 mineral was discovered at Crystal mountain and a number of locations were made and considerable assessment work done before a test of this ore was made. It was then learned that the ore carried zinc in small quantities and the camp was abandoned. Copper lodes were later dis- covered in Virginia Dale, at Gray Rock, St. Cloud
and much money was expended in doing assessment and development work, but the locaters got cold feet after a while and gave up the search.
In 1886 an organization composed of a large number of prominent citizens of Fort Collins was formed for the purpose of conducting a systematic search for the precious metals in the hills of the county. Three experienced miners and prospectors were employed and put into the field. In Septem- ber of that year these men reported gold discoveries on the divide between Seven Mile and Elkhorn creeks and a rush was made to secure locations of mineral claims in the district. The surface indi- cations were excellent, pronounced by expert miners to be equal to the best ever found. Gold could be panned from almost any piece of crushed rock and the excitement reached fever heat. A town was started and given the name of Manhattan with its hotel, stores, postoffice and newspaper. Digging for gold was vigorously prosecuted all that fall and the succeeding winter and for several years afterwards. The country for miles around was honey-combed with prospect holes and incipient mines and in many instances good returns were received from assay tests of the ore. Some of the ores tested as high as $600 to the ton. Interest in the camp continued for several years and then practically died out although some of the claims are yet being worked through shafts and tunnels. It is the general belief that the gold is there, but that it lies deeper than any of the shafts have so far been sunk. In 1888 business men of Fort Collins contributed a large sum of money towards the cost of erecting concentrating works. The mill, a small affair, was built on Seven Mile creek, but either through faulty construction or bad manage- ment, it failed to meet expectations and was at last shut down and the machinery moved away. Fresh interest in the Manhattan district has been created the present year by the discovery of new mineral leads, which give promise of results in re- storing the old time popularity of the camp. Gold finds were also made in 1887-8 in the canon of the Caché la Poudre above Rustic, and the prospects of a flourishing mining camp appeared so good that the Zimmerman Brothers erected a five stamp mill and reduction works on the river bank about three miles above Rustic. This was put in operation and a large quantity of ore was crushed and re- duced to retorts. These were sent to St. Louis to be refined but the returns were so poor that the mill fell into disuse. Mr. John Zimmerman, how- ever, claims to this day that he was swindled by the
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refiners and that the retorts were rich in gold. Work is being done this year on several gold claims situated in the vicinity of the old mill, or Poudre City as it was called in its palmy days. The Man- hattan district lies 45 miles west of Fort Collins.
A copper vein was opened on Prairie Divide several years ago and good results were obtained from a quantity of the ore sent to the Denver smelters, but the vein pinched out shortly after- wards and the Copper Bug laid idle until early in
tricts has been demonstrated time and time again beyond peradventure, but the veins lie far below the surface, and it will cost a great deal of money to uncover them. Deep mining is expensive and so far prospectors and claim owners have been unable to interest capital in their discoveries. Thus far capital has found greater attractions in other parts of the state, but the time will come when monied men will begin looking for mining investments in Larimer county, for the minerals are here.
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MANHATTAN GOLD CAMP IN 1888
1910 when further work done on it resulted in opening up a large body of ore that is proving to be rich in zinc. It is understood that preparations are being made to install mining machinery at the Copper Bug for the purpose of developing the mine and taking out shipping ore. There is said to be a large body of high per cent zinc ore in the Copper Bug and that it can be gotten out and refined and leave a good profit for the owners.
No doubt the time will come when mining for the precious metals will be an important and profitable industry in Larimer county, for that gold, silver, copper, zinc and lead exists in the mountain dis-
The northern part of the county is underlaid with coal and coal mining in a desultory manner by crude methods has been carried on for more than forty years. The measures lie close to the surface and the coal taken out of them so far does not possess sufficient specific gravity to entitle it to rank with the best coal taken out further south. It burns well but does not throw off the heat that comes from the best lignite coal of the Boulder county fields. In 1868 and 1869 Cheyenne de- pended almost entirely upon the coal beds of North- ern Larimer county for fuel and the farmers in that part of the county use it now almost ex-
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clusively. It is easily and cheaply mined and costs the consumers less to have it hauled to their homes than from Fort Collins. A few years ago during a labor strike in the Boulder mines, thousands of tons were hauled to Fort Collins by teams from the Indian Springs and Barton coal mines, a distance of twenty miles and consumers found it to answer a good purpose. In the belief that measures carry- ing a better quality of coal will be found by going down to a greater depth, drills have been set at work to find out if the belief is warranted. If the operators succeed in finding measures of good steam coal within three or four hundred feet, that are thick enough to warrant the cost of mining it, a new and very important industry will be opened up-one that will add a great deal to the prosperity of the people. The Cheyenne-Wellington extension of the Colorado & Southern railroad crosses these coal fields so that transportation facilities will be afforded the operators of these mines, should they prove to be as good as it is believed they will.
Larimer County's Volcanoes
Larimer county prides itself upon having some as interesting examples of ancient volcanic dis- turbances as can be found in the entire Rocky Mountain region. These are found in the vicinity of Cameron Pass, about 75 miles west of Fort Collins. Cameron Pass divides the Medicine Bow mountains on the north from the main continental range on the south. The apex of the pass is about 10,000 feet above sea level. It is flanked on either side by high ridges and lofty peaks that rise in altitude from 13,000 to 14,000 feet. The more marked evidences of volcanic action are near Lake Zimmerman on the east side of the pass, some ten miles southeast of Chamber's Lake. They form what are known as the "The Craters," and are found at the northern extremity of a long ridge some 2,000 feet above the floor of the pass. The top of the ridge is in the shape of a mesa or large grassy plateau. "The Craters" are in the form of two deep rocky basins divided from each other by a thin knife-like ridge. The northwestern walls of "The Craters" overlook Cameron Pass, and are in the form of a serrated ridge of chimney-like rocks. The rocks, columns and boulders are of flint-like hard- ness and are very finely checked, as if at some time they had been exposed to intense heat. The craters are the scene of absolute barreness and desolation. So impervious seems the surrounding rock that all the action of the elements for thou-
sands of years past has failed to make the least im- pression upon them, so that the interstices are devoid of any solid deposits. Consequently even the hardiest plant has found no foothold among them. In the beds of these craters deep snow banks are found which have evidently been forming since the volcanoes cooled off, thousands of years ago, and quit belching their streams of fire and mud and clouds of steam.
About a mile below the craters lies Lake Zim- merman. This body of water is about a half mile in diameter, and whose ultimate depths have never been fathomed. The waters of the lake are cold and clear, being constantly fed from the numerous springs and snow-banks above. It is thought by scientists that the bed of Lake Zimmerman was at one time the scene of some ancient volcanic eruption. A few miles southwest of Lake Zim- merman is Lake Agnes, named in honor of Mr. John Zimmerman's youngest daughter, Miss Agnes Zimmerman. This is another fathomless pool em- bosomed between lofty mountain peaks. Lake Agnes is about two miles long and a mile wide. From its western and southwestern shores rise abruptly Finger or Sawtooth mountain and Mount Richthoven, the latter more than 14,000 feet high. Almost in the center of Lake Agnes rises a shaft- like point of rock on the summit of which a few evergreens find lodgment. Richthoven rises 3,000 feet above the surface of the lake and may be ascended by a hard climb from the lake's southern extremity. The bed of Lake Agnes is clearly the crater of an ancient volcano. Its sides are exceed- ingly steep and the lake evidently has great depth. The overshadowing mountains are of almost solid granite, but nevertheless, are crumbling and the broken fragments are gradually filling the lake.
To the southwest of Lake Agnes rises a third cliff some 2,000 feet above the surface. The face of this cliff is seamed, and through one of the clefts falls a cascade. John Zimmerman, proprietor of the Key- stone hotel, at Home, after whom Lake Zimmer- man is named, and who spent several years in a cabin at Cameron Pass, and who has explored and known these regions since 1880, maintains that this mountain is actually growing. He says that he not only knows from careful observation that the mountain is now higher than it was when he first beheld it, but that he knows there is a perceptible motion to its surface and certain portions of its interior. Always when climbing the cliff or travers- ing its summit he is conscious of its subtile yet per- ceptible stir. There are slight sounds from within
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the cracks and caverns and a constant falling of loose rock. He attributes these characteristics to volcanic action beneath the mountain. If this be true, the child now living in Larimer county may be priviledged to witness the bursting of this moun- tain into a flame of fire and the pouring down its sides of streams of moulten lava. The pent up fires beneath this mountain may sometime within the lives of the school children burst into flames and throw from its interior mud, ashes and steam. Mr. Zimmerman also tells of a moving cave in the cliffs
water for irrigation purposes from the Laramie river across a high divide and pouring it into Chambers lake, was written by H. A. Crafts and first appeared in the Scientific American, October 14, 1899. It contains so much of historical value and is such an accurate description of a stupendous piece of work that I deem it worth preserving:
"The Water Supply and Storage company, of Foft Collins, Colorado, upon the completion of the Larimer County ditch, found its water supply to be deficient. The ditch was taken from the north
LAKE ZIMMERMAN-ALTITUDE 11,000 FEET
in the neighborhood of the craters near Lake Zim- merman. He discovered this cave in 1884, and vis- iting it a dozen years afterwards found that it had moved about fifty feet to the south and its interior had undergone a great change. This gives increased faith in the real volcanic nature of the region.
Building of the Laramie River Feeder Ditch
The following article, describing the obstacles and difficulties encountered and overcome by the Water Supply & Storage company in bringing
side of the Cache la Poudre river, near the foot- hills of the Rocky Mountain range, and leads through the eastern part of Larimer county and into Weld county. Its length is about seventy miles. It is thirty feet wide at the top and twenty feet wide at the bottom, and it has a carrying capac- ity of 660 cubic feet of water per second. Under it there are some 20,000 acres of land susceptible of irrigation. Owing to the amount of water taken from Cache la Poudre by prior appropriations, there was not enough left to enable the company to carry out its original designs. Storage reservoirs
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in connection with the ditch were constructed on the Plains, having a capacity of six hundred million cubic feet of water. These were filled at such times as there was water to spare from the river, but even with the water thus held in reserve there was not enough to supply the deficiency. It needed not only an additional supply for the ditch during the irrigating season, but for the proper filling of the storage reservoirs.
"To secure more water from the Caché la Poudre river was out of the question, nor were there other streams having still un- appropriated water at convenient distances and tending in the same direction.
"At the head of the Cache la Poudre in the higher altitudes of the Rocky Moun- tains and some sixty miles above the head- gates of the Larimer County ditch, was Chambers Lake. This had been formed by· a deep depression, and covered at low water 135 acres, and at high water 212 acres. The ditch company incorporated Chamber's Lake as a reservoir and con- structed across its outlet an immense earth- work dam, which raised the lake and gave the company one hundred and thirty million cubic feet of water to draw upon as they found it necessary. But one day, June 8th, 1891, when the reservoir was full, there came a cloudburst above it, and the rush of the water into it, coupled with a supposed weakness of the dam at the wasteway, burst the dam, and an immense body of water was let loose and poured down the canon and into the valley below, causing great damage and entailing much vexatious litiga- tion. The loss was so. great that the com- pany was slow to reconstruct its dam, and other sources of water supply were sought.
"In the vicinity of Chamber's Lake are the head waters of several other mountain streams. Northward some five miles on the northern slope of Mount Cameron are the head- waters of the Big Laramie river, which flows northward and empties into the North Platte river in Wyoming. Westward about the same distance is Cameron Pass, where Michigan creek and several other small streams have their rise and flow west- ward down into North Park and empty at last into the North Platte itself. Again to the southwest- ward and lying beyond the Continental Divide are the headwaters of the Grand river, which flows southwesterly and empties into the Colorado river,
which in turn flows to the Pacific. Yet the engi- neers upon investigation found that by tapping these streams at an elevation of some 10,000 feet . above sea level, water could be conveyed over the intervening divides and delivered into the head-
LARAMIE RIVER FEEDER DITCH-KNOWN AS THE "SKYLINE"
waters of the Cache la Poudre, and that the water could be legally appropriated as the streams named yet held large quantities that had not been appro- priated for irrigation purposes. The company thereupon decided to obtain a portion of this water by bringing it over to the Caché la Poudre water- shed.
"They began tapping the Big Laramie. They commenced their ditch which was to act as a feeder, high up in the gulch on the northern slope of Mount Cameron, where the river had a discharge
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of some 500 cubic feet of water, and swung it round to the eastern flank of the mountain to Chamber's Lake, a distance of some five miles, where it dis- charges into the lake. It was a difficult piece of engineering, located as the ditch was at such a great altitude, and upon the side of a mountain whose slope was at an angle of about 45% There were three principal classes of material encountered in the excavation-loose earth, loose rock and solid rock. One tunnel 110 feet in length through solid rock was constructed. The difficulties of construc- tion may be readily imagined when it is stated that the ditch was constructed at least 1,500 feet above the base of the mountain. In the first place, the timber was all cleared from the site of the proposed ditch and then about a foot of vegetable mould was scraped off down to solid ground and banked on the lower side. With the felled timber, log curbing was constructed to hold the lower bank. Where there was standing timber on the lower side, the felled timber was rolled down against it thus form- ing another scheme of retention. At intervals for at least two-thirds of the distance around the flank of the mountain small streams were intersected. These were turned into the ditch to add their waters to the general supply. The principal of these streams was Two and a Half Mile creek. The ditch was at first flumed across the gulch and then the water from the creek was carried into it over a latticed apron. The apron was designed to both break the force of the water for a better protection of the flume and also to permit all floatage to be carried over the flume and discharged into the creek below.
"The ditch is five miles in length, eight feet wide at the bottom, and twelve feet wide at the top, and will carry water to the depth of four feet. Its carrying capacity at its head is 240 cubic feet per second, but in order to embrace the water of the intersecting creeks, its capacity is gradually in- creased until at its outlet it has a carrying capacity of 400 feet. The ditch has stood the test well. The lower bank has settled down solidly and has not yet experienced a single break. The upper bank, however, is subject to a constant sliding process from above. Some parts of the mountain side are springy and from these earth slides result. It was also found that the swaying of the trees on the upper bank caused a loosening of the soil, so the standing timber was felled some twenty-five or thirty feet further back from the bank. To prevent breakage from sud- den floods caused by cloudbursts above, automatic wasteways have been constructed. Log cribbing has
also been built upon the upper bank and along the most exposed parts in order to catch loose matter that may slide down from above.
"The company has also reconstructed its Cham- ber's Lake dam, but in a more substantial manner than formerly. That part of the old earth dam which was carried out has been replaced by a strong dam of piling. The round piling was driven to depths varying from 23 to 25 feet, and the sheet piling from 10 to 14 feet. The dam is 11 feet high above the main floor, 190 feet long on the top, and 150 feet at the bottom. The dam is built into the old embankment, which is 63 feet wide at the base and 30 feet wide on top, and is faced with crib- work."
In May, 1904, this second dam was carried out by a flood, and in the fall of 1910 the company be- gan its reconstruction in a more stable and substan- tial form. This third dam is being built of concrete and will be ten feet higher than the second one and will impound more than double the quantity of water that it did.
Newspaper History
As already stated, the Express, founded by Joseph S. McClelland in April, 1873, was the first news- paper printed and published in Larimer county. It was started as a Republican paper and remained as such until 1896, when it espoused the politics of the Colorado Silver Republican party and continued to advocate those policies until 1900, when it re- turned to the Republican fold and became, and still continues to be an able and influential exponent of the principles of that party. It has passed through several changes of ownership and is now owned, controlled, edited and published by George C. and J. G. McCormick under the firm name of McCor- mick Brothers. In 1881 the Express, then owned by H. A. Crafts, began issuing an afternoon daily edi- tion, which was continued until 1884, when the daily was suspended. On May 28th, 1907, McCor- mick Brothers began issuing a morning daily edition of the Express in connection with their weekly, and the publications have been important factors in the upbuilding of the home of its adoption. The next newspaper venture was the Standard, founded in March, 1874, by Clark Boughton, who died a few months later. After his death the Standard was published by H. L. Myrick and W. W. Sullivan until 1876, when it suspended, and the press and material was sold to John Oliver of Black Hawk.
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The Fort Collins Courier was founded in June, 1878, by Ansel Watrous and Elmer M. Pelton and the paper is still being published. It was started as a Democratic paper and at once became the organ of the Democratic party of Larimer county, but after a change of ownership, in February, 1899, it became an advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party and is still a rigid adherent of those principles and policies. In May, 1882, the Courier began issuing an evening daily edition, which, however, was suspended in June, 1883, after a little more than a year's experience. The publishers found the field too narrow to support such a daily as they were circulating and, after sinking more than a thousand dollars in the venture, decided to quit. The effort to establish a daily newspaper on a profitable basis was renewed in March, 1902, and this was successful. The Even- ing Courier is now nearing its ninth volume and is in a flourishing condition. It has been prosperous from the very start and is now considered one of the soild, substantial institutions of the city.
The Courier is owned by the Courier Printing & Publishing Company, Carl Anderson, manager.
The Reporter, the first newspaper published in Loveland, was founded by G. N. Udell on August 7th, 1880. Two months later the Reporter passed under the control and management of Frank A. McClelland, eldest son of the founder of the Lar- imer County Express, and he sold the plant and subscription list to George W. Bailey and John Smart early in 1882. Since then the Reporter has had several owners, editors and publishers. At present it is owned and ably edited by Ira O. Knapp, who has established for it a reputation for reliability and a high regard for the right in all things, as well as in the manner of dealing with all subjects treated in its columns, which has given the Reporter a high standing among the best people of the county. The Reporter is Republican in politics.
The Loveland Leader was started in 1883 by Horace P. Crafts, who discontinued its publication after a few months' experience in a field already well filled.
In 1885 S. W. Teagarden started the Larimer Count Bee in Fort Collins. Two years later the Bee disappeared from the Fort Collins newspaper field. It was Republican in politics and was started for the purpose of driving the Express to the wall, but failed in its mission. Then came two other newspaper ventures, which had short but ill-fared lives. The Larimer County Republican started in 1889 and the Fort Collins Gazette, which made its
appearance in 1892. They came upon the stage of action to "fill a long felt want" and that want proved to be a newspaper grave. The Argus was started in 1899, and after passing through several mutations and changes of owners and name finally became known as the Fort Collins Review, under which title it is still being published daily and weekly. The Review is the leading Democratic paper in the county. It is ably edited by Edward D. Foster and is published by the Review Publish- ing company.
In 1903 the Evening Star appeared in the Fort Collins newspaper firmament under the editorial management of I. C. Bradley. It was small in size, but bright and snappy and its daily appearance was looked forward to with considerable interest for ten months, when it dropped below the horizon and passed out of sight.
Along sometime in the 90's, the exact date I am unable to give, Earl Harbaugh started the Loveland Register, which had a somewhat checkered career, finally passing off the stage of action in 1908. The Loveland Herald, Democratic, daily and weekly, was founded in 1907, and is still preaching the doctrines espoused and promulgated by Jefferson and Jackson in a sprightly and interesting manner. It has a large number of readers, an extra good advertising patronage and is steadily making money for its active, energetic and enterprising editor, Mark A. Ellison.
Two newspapers had their birth in Berthoud, the Bulletin and the News, only the first named sur- viving. The Bulletin is independent in politics and is a well edited and well managed local news- paper and is rendering excellent service in exploit- ing the resources, advantages and attractions of the Little Thompson valley, one of the richest and most prosperous agricultural sections of Colorado. J. S. Bailey is the name of the present editor and proprietor.
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