USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Volume II > Part 37
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Thus far we have been considering in the main, the history of the discovery and development of the Iron mines, but others in the district are justly entitled to equal, possibly to greater prestige, by priority of discovery. For example, the Dyer was located in 1872, two years
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before Stevens opened the Rock ; the Homestake still earlier ; the Breece- Iron and Alps somewhat later, though all developed slowly under primitive conditions.
"In the winter of 1878-'79," says Mr. Robinson, "began the series of attacks upon the territory surveyed and patented by the Iron Silver Mining company, which forced it to appeal to the courts, and to employ in its defense a large force of armed men. Litigation then commenced is still undecided in its main principles and issues." At one time the company had more than sixty suits at law to determine various contests, and down to 1888 had "expended more than half a million dollars in prosecuting and defending them. But in spite of all these contests, with adverse incidents and interruptions, it had at the date named, given to the world about twelve million dollars worth of valuable mineral, and to its owners about two and a half millions in net profits. For nine years it has given steady employment to an average of over three hundred men in its various departments ; has opened about twenty-three miles of working levels, upraises and winzes; three miles of working shafts and inclines, and has stoped an area of about sixteen acres on its lode. It is still a large producer, and will probably pay handsome dividends for years to come. Scarcely one-fourth of its territory is yet exhausted, or even exploited. It is a grand mine. Its discovery and opening was the inception of Leadville and the awakening of the dormant powers and energies of the State. Its development has had its part toward sustaining the prosperity of the district, and in extending the fame of Colorado as a great mining region.
" Much discussion has arisen as to who is entitled to be called the discoverer of carbonates, the real founder of Leadville. The disinter- ested judgment of one who has been familiar with most of the facts of its early history, whose home and work have been a part of it for five of the nine years of its existence, is, that to the enterprise, knowledge of the general geology of the State, firm faith in its mineral resources, keen perception of its value and importance, the tireless energy, courage and perseverance of W. H. Stevens we are indebted for the 28 II
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discoveries and developments that have advanced Leadville and the State to their present exalted position in the mining world. In this early work Mr. Stevens was ably seconded by his associate, Mr. Wood, and probably the early determination of the kind and value of the ore was, in great measure, due to their habit of critically examining and analyzing all minerals that came under their observation."
It is but just to add, that the claim of Messrs. Stevens and Wood to having first made the revelations of the character and value of the heavy minerals which disturbed the gold washers, has been contested by Maurice Hayes, an assayer of local repute, and another named Dun- ham, who assert that their assays ante-dated those of the alleged dis- coverers. The fact remains, notwithstanding, that Stevens and Wood were the first to establish systematic mining and induce the investment of capital in mining and reduction works, as a requisite beginning of the new era.
In the fall of 1877 Mr. Wood sold his interest in the property to Mr. L. Z. Leiter of Chicago, for the modest sum of $40,000, and thereby sacrificed a great fortune to his lack of faith.
According to local authority, the first strike which called attention to the vast mineral resources of the district, was that of the "Camp Bird," made by the Gallagher Brothers (Patrick, Charles and John), during the winter of 1876-'77, and directly induced by the exposure of carbonate of lead in the Rock mine by the parties whose record in that direction has just been epitomized, and in the near vicinity of what are now the great mines of the Iron Silver Mining company. Development under crude conditions was necessarily slow. The richer ore body was not found at the surface or grass roots, as in most cases where fissure veins make public announcement of their presence, but by digging down through the overlying deposits. Toward the autumn of 1877 these sturdy operators began realizing large returns from selling valu- able ores to Mr. August R. Meyer, who shipped them to St. Louis for treatment. In due time their mine was sold, it is said, for $225,000 to the company just named and was the first important transfer made.
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From many conflicting statements, the fact is evolved that the first settler in the present city of Leadville, the man who established the nucleus of the " Cloud City," and by the founding of a mercantile house gave birth, so to speak, to the original thoroughfare known as Chestnut street, which, until the opening of Harrison avenue in 1879, was the only artery of trade, was Mr. Charles Mater,* who located there about the middle of June, 1877. It is a fact, however, that before he was ready for business, several others had taken possession of eligible sites in the near vicinity and erected cabins thereon. Mr. Mater was born in Germany. At the age of seventeen he emigrated to the United States, and to Colorado in the spring of 1860, locating in California Gulch. He was one of the organizers of Lake County in 1861. In 1864 he served with the Third Colorado Cavalry in the Indian wars of that period, and took part in the battle of Sand Creek ; was postmaster at Granite for eleven years ; served two years as a justice of the peace, and one term as county commissioner. Since establishing at Leadville he has been one of its principal merchants, and was one of the first trustees of the original town organization. In July, 1877, Mr. H. A. W. Tabor, who had been engaged in business in Oro City for many years, moved to the new town site and there opened a store.
In the spring of 1878 Mr. George H. Fryer, in connection with William Lovell, while prospecting in an unchristened elevation directly north of Carbonate Hill, on the 4th of April opened a deposit of ore which he named "The New Discovery." As if by unanimous consent, the promontory immediately took the name, "Fryer Hill," and by sub- sequent developments in contiguous claims became the most productive section of the country. Fryer was one of the most generous, genial and companionable of men. He had previously accumulated and squandered with profligate recklessness two or three moderate fortunes. I remember when he came to Denver, just at the beginning of his famous strike, but before its value had been demonstrated by devel- opment, to negotiate its sale to Mr. J. B. Chaffee. He was in close
See Portrait, page 396, vol. I.
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financial straits, and compelled to raise a certain amount of money to meet an impending crisis in his affairs. Ascertaining the facts, Mr. Chaffee advanced him the sum required, taking a bond and lease on the property, which eventuated in its purchase for $50,000.
Among the series of important discoveries made in the spring of 1873, and the one which exerted greatest influence toward inciting the sudden and tumultuous rush of immigration from all quarters of the Union, and caused the name of Horace A. W. Tabor to become more widely celebrated than any other of his time, occurred about the Ist of May, 1878, the material incidents of which are well worth relating. In 1868 Mr. August Rische, a shoemaker, who had served three years in the Union army, came to Colorado and opened a small shop at Fair- play, Park County, for the manufacture and repair of foot-gear. In the autumn of 1874 he removed to California Gulch, and in the spring of 1875 leased a mine known as the "Five-Twenty," but as it proved an unprofitable venture, he engaged in prospecting, in this instance, also, without satisfactory result.
On the 20th of April, 1878, he formed a partnership with George T. Hook, another shoemaker, with a view to searching for "carbonates." Both were poor. To prospect with any chance of success, one must have at least a reasonable supply of substantial rations and proper implements. These pre-requisites, lacking the means to pay for them, were beyond their reach, but knowing Mr. Tabor and his generous nature, they applied to him for assistance. Happily, their proposal to divide, share and share alike such discoveries as they should make, enlisted his aid in their cause. The rations, tools, etc., were furnished, and they proceeded to the apex of Fryer Hill, at that time an unprom- ising locality, for very little valuable mineral had yet been discovered there, and began digging. In those days it was difficult to determine where lay favorable signs and indications of the presence of mineral. Previous experience in Colorado mining counted for nothing. In estab- lished districts the class to which they belonged followed certain guides found in the surface outcroppings of veins, or were led to them by float
Gw T look
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or blossom rock, scattered over the slopes; but here it was simply blind chance, for the deposits were thickly overlaid with porphyry and soil. Digging for the vein was laborious work, but they persevered until their supplies became exhausted, when they returned to Mr. Tabor's store, reported progress, and, like Oliver Twist, asked for more, which was immediately granted. Few worthy men in distress have applied to him, even when he had but little to share with any one, and been sent away empty-handed. In the present instance he knew that Rische and Hook were honest, industrious and persevering, and, they themselves were sanguine of striking the prolongation of the ore body which had rewarded George Fryer's search in the claim adjoining, though it seemed probable that they would have to go deeper for it. This generosity, though against the pessimistic advice of his friends who had little faith in the outcome of their endeavors, made him a millionaire, and brought him almost unexampled renown. It exalted him to the headship of men and affairs in his own State, caused him to be chosen Lieutenant Governor in 1878, and sent him to the Senate of the United States, all within two or three years, and almost before he had recovered from the dazzling bewilderment of the marvelously rapid transition from obscurity and poverty, to princely wealth and importance among his fellows.
About the Ist of May, having sunk their shaft to the depth of twenty-six feet, Rische & Hook opened the Little Pittsburgh mine, and with it fortunes for all concerned in the enterprise. The vein soon gave evidence of being remarkable for the extent and value of its ores. It is stated that during the last half of July following the discovery, the mine yielded at the rate of $8,000 per week. The first wagon load of mineral extracted and sold to the smelters, netted them over two hundred dollars. With abundant means at command, the deposit was thoroughly opened, and was soon producing from seventy-five to one hundred tons weekly. This surprising revelation caused a prodigious activity in prospecting and mining throughout the neighborhood, and Tabor, Rische & Hook began to absorb contiguous claims.
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In September following, Mr. Hook, after having realized largely from the intermediate sales of ores, sold out his interest to his associates for $98,000 and retired, to securely invest and enjoy his fortune. A short time later, Mr. Rische disposed of his half interest in the property to J. B. Chaffee and David H. Moffat for $262,000. Says Fossett,- "On the 18th of November, 1878, the owners of the New Discovery, Little Pittsburgh, Dives and Winnemuc claims united their holdings and formed the Little Pittsburgh Consolidated company. The Little Pitts- burgh had previously returned the handsome total of $375,000 and the Winnemuc $153,000. The latter amount was extracted in forty-nine days, clearing the owners $112,000." But extended developments determined the fact that the larger part of the valuable ore lay within the boundaries of the New Discovery, where the deposit was from twenty-five to fifty feet thick in places. " The average con- tents of the ore for five months of 1878-'79 were 111.40 ounces silver per ton, and 22.47 per cent. of lead. The average selling price was $62. 12, freighters', smelters' and shippers' charges being from $70 to $75 per ton." The Consolidated company was organized in New York in the spring of 1879, with a capital stock of $20,000,000.
"The production of these mines from the time of discovery in the spring of 1878 to April Ist, 1880, amounted to $2,697,534.91 for receipts of ore sold, and $4,246,239.81 actual yield." By this time it was dis- covered that several large blocks of mineral, that had been counted . upon for large yields and the consequent perpetuation of dividends, were of too low grade to pay much above the cost of extraction and treatment. Under the pressure of a strong demand by the principal shareholders in New York for dividends of $100,000 per month, the mine was literally drained of its valuable contents. Tabor sold out his interest to Chaffee and Moffat for a round million, and with other asso- ciates (Borden, Tabor & Co.) bought up all the properties obtainable in the vicinity and adjoining the Crysolite, then the chief producer of the district. Marshall Field of Chicago became interested with him, and from his various ventures in and about Leadville accumulated
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enormous profits, while Tabor made millions so easily and so rapidly as to dazzle all beholders of his wonderful career.
Soon after the setting of the tide toward Fryer Hill, every foot of ground in that vicinity had been staked off in claims. Nor did the wild rush stop there, but extended to all neighboring regions. The discovery of the Crysolite, Little Chief, Carboniferous, Amie, Dunkin, Hibernia, Matchless and a host of others followed in quick succession. On the Crysolite a greater than the Little Pittsburgh Consolidated company was organized in October, 1879, by George D. Roberts, one of the pron- inent operators of the Pacific slope. The territory embraced a number of adjoining claims, including the Vulture, Carboniferous, Colorado Chief and others, and was put under the most extensive operation, by W. S. Keyes, a noted expert and manager from the celebrated Comstock lode of Nevada, who immediately introduced Comstock methods of mining and timbering, which served as examples for other of the large operators, and to which many were indebted for the systems which pro- moted their success. For its yields we again have recourse to Fossett, who states, "that in less than five and a half months, while the company was putting the Crysolite in shape for future production, five dividends, amounting to $1,000,000, were paid and another of $100,000 in April. The capital stock was $10,000,000, divided into 200,000 shares of fifty dollars each. At this time the shares sold rapidly at $20 each." The total yields of the Crysolite for eleven months preceding April Ist, 1880, is given by Fossett at $3,062,037.68.
The Little Chief, another and by no means the least celebrated mine of the inflation period, yielded phenomenally during the existence of its bonanzas. It was located and sunk to a paying condition by Peter and Richard Finerty, Patrick Dillon and John Taylor, all common laborers, and until success crowned their efforts, poverty stricken. After they had mined and sold ore to the value of $Ico,coo, J. V. Farwell of Chicago, bought their claim for $300,000, thereby giving each a greater sum of ready capital than either in his most extravagant visions had ever dreamed of. From the date at which mineral was struck, in 1878
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to April Ist, 1880, the Little Chief produced nearly two and a half millions. At the beginning of 1880, the property was purchased by George D. Roberts, and the Little Chief Mining company organized, with a capital stock of $ 10,000,000.
It has been as much a part of the history of Leadville as of all other great mining regions, that as a rule, the original locators have derived only a small share of the values contained in their discoveries, for almost as soon as made, for the most part when only shallow prospect shafts had been sunk, the locations were sold to wealthy individuals or corpo- rations, who enjoyed extravagant dividends therefrom by virtue of abundant funds wherewith to develop them. It is impracticable at this time to recount in detail the chronicles of discovery over so wide a territory as was here presented, and in which thousands of locations were recorded. Even a brief synopsis would extend these annals far beyond the purpose of the author. It is deemed unnecessary to give more than a general review of the principal discoveries and yields that induced the lodgment of a dense population, the investment of vast sums of money, and the building of a remarkable city, the largest and most influential thus far established in the Rocky Mountains. The minutest particulars of the wonderful story have been elaborated in several historical sketches of the period, and in countless newspapers and magazines, hence it would be superfluous to recapitulate them here, when most of the mines which produced the effects so elaborately described, have passed out of the list of celebrities, and whose prestige will never be restored.
While it is difficult to select from the number of great mines any one, and say it was pre-eminently potential in determining or forecasting the destiny of the region, there were a few which led all the rest, and have not been surpassed by later revelations. It is undoubtedly true that the most extraordinary discovery ever made in Lake County, and from which a larger amount of treasure was taken in the brief period of its supremacy as a phenomenon, was the Robert E. Lee, located and christened by an obscure prospector named Lea on the 25th of June, 1878, and sold to his successors in 1879, before mineral was found.
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During February, 1879, rich pay was encountered, but operations were almost immediately interrupted by water, and later by litigation. Prior to this, interests in the claim had been offered for mere nominal sums, since the self-constituted experts had proclaimed it barren ground, out- side of the mineral belt, and practically worthless. Before vein matter of any considerable value had been exposed, the property passed into the hands of Irving Howbert, Benjamin F. Crowell and J. F. Humphrey of Colorado Springs. Subsequently J. F. Sigafus, W. H. Roudebush, J. Y. Marshall and Homer Pennock of Leadville, became members of the company. No sooner had paying mineral been disclosed, than suits, were begun by contesting claimants. Their titles were quieted by pur- chase, and about the first of August work was resumed in earnest. At the depth of one hundred and fifty feet a vein of exceedingly rich chloride of silver ore was struck, that carried 1,800 to 2,000 ounces silver per ton, the first of like dimensions and value that had been discovered in any of the carbonate hills, and necessarily stimulated and increased the prevailing furore over the marvelous wealth of the district. There was also a mass of sand carbonates carrying from $200 to $400 per ton in silver, thus making it an exceptional discovery. The yield of this deposit for the first three months of systematic mining was $495,000. "In October,* $125,000 was taken out in ten days, $100,000 of which came from various lots of ore which were sold on the following remarkable assays : 520 ounces silver per ton ; 708, 767, 882, 1,098. 1,412, 1,516, 2,825, 2,878, 3,014, 5,405 and 10,306."
During the month of January the yield of the mines aggregated $301,494.79. "On the 13th of January an effort was made to see how much could be taken out of the mine within twenty-four hours. The result was ninety-five tons, valued at $118,500, showing an average valuc of over $1,200 per ton. Two tons of these chlorides and carbonates carried 11,839 ounces of silver per ton ; four tons averaged 4,993 ounces, and eight tons 1,234 ounces. The general daily product was from seven to ten thousand dollars. The Lee has given the largest yield for a
* Fossett's Colorado.
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single month and a single day, of any mine in the country, outside of the Comstock of Nevada."
The company was reorganized and incorporated in 1880. In Feb- ruary, 1881, it was controlled by J. Y. Marshall, Homer Pennock, L. D. Roudebush and H. A. W. Tabor. It is related that in one of the levels, streaks of chloride ore were found that yielded 10,000 ounces silver per ton, and there were instances where it ran from 15,000 to 20,000 ounces. Other bodies much more extensive, comprising the bulk of the mass, produced from 150 to 700 ounces per ton. All the better ores were long ago exhausted, and since then only small amounts have been extracted.
To the Morning Star, located in June, 1877, by two prospectors. named Baldock and Bradley, something of romantic history attaches. When their shaft had reached a depth of ten to twelve feet, in wholly barren ground, Governor John L. Routt, possessed of a desire to tempt the fickle goddess, offered them $10,000, much more than his entire fortune, for the claim, and it was accepted. He had known the pinchings of poverty in the political station he then occupied, in fact, all through his life, but cherished unbounded faith in his guiding star, and felt that by throwing his soul and strength into it as supplements to his hard earned dollars, the reward would come. And it did come, but not until his patience, muscle and credit had been strained to the uttermost.
Disregarding, in his new born enthusiasm, the exalted position he held as the executive of a great commonwealth, and the fact that men occupying such positions were not expected to lay aside the ermine of government for the humbler raiment of slouch hat and copper riveted overalls, he set to work with the few men he could afford to employ, sharing their labor in picking, shoveling and hoisting ; subsisting upon the coarsest fare by day, and sleeping in coarse blankets upon the floor of a rude cabin by night, toiling from sunrise to sunset, denying himself all the comforts of life to pursue unfalteringly the object of his ambition. These efforts were interrupted by occasional visits to the State capital, until his term of office expired, when, surrendering the scepter of authority to his successor, Frederick W. Pitkin, he returned to his claim
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and wrought persistently as before, but with only slight encouragement until April, 1879, when his indomitable pluck and steadfast perseverance resulted in the discovery of an immense body of valuable ore.
In the progress of his preliminary trials, to secure means for the more active prosecution of work, he had sold to Joseph W. Watson and George C. Corning, the latter Treasurer of State, each a one-fifth interest in his claim. During 1878, some few isolated bunches, or small pockets of ore were found, sales of which brought him $7,447.70. But from the time the mine was put in a condition for steady production, during the summer and autumn of 1879, the receipts were large, aggre- gating for that part of the year, $290,491.26. During January, 1880,* the receipts were $70,600, in February $70,000, and in March, about $75,000. A number of adjoining claims were purchased, and in April, 1880, the Morning Star Consolidated Mining company was organized, with a capital stock of $6,000,000. In addition to the great profits reaped from previous sales of ore, the Governor and his associates received something over a million dollars from the sale of the property.
The Evening Star, situated between the Catalpa and that just described, was located in 1879, subsequently sold to an eastern company, and then systematically developed by W. S. Ward, its manager. The capital stock of the company was one of the most moderate of the time, being only $500,000. Mr. Ward, one of the principal stockholders, dis- played rare skill, energy and prescience in the development of the ore bodies, employing methods that have nowhere been excelled for wisdom, perfection, and in profitable returns through directness and economy of underground explorations. In most cases the properties about him were operated with an eye single to the payment of dividends,- regardless of other and more important considerations,-from the first ores developed, while Ward made no effort whatever to pay dividends, paying none, until the full contents of the mine had been carefully blocked out, securely and safely timbered, and their approximate value ascertained. Then he was in a position to set aside each month a certain
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