USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Volume III > Part 29
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As already related in previous volumes, the first discovery of gold-bearing placers in the Rocky Mountains occurred near the mouth of Chicago Creek, directly opposite the town of Idaho Springs, January 7th, 1859, which gives that spot more than ordinary historical importance, for it was one of the beginnings of our greatness as a common- wealth. This discovery brought a multitude of zealous diggers, who opened other deposits on Illinois, Grass Valley, Soda Creek, Payne's and Spanish Bars, which col- lectively yielded some millions of the yellow metal. Many lodes bearing like and other metals-silver, lead and copper-were found upon the adjacent hillsides.
The county possesses illimitable mineral resources, but contributes nothing else of material value to the channels of commerce. The tourist who takes passage on the Colorado Central narrow gauge train at Denver, for a trip to Georgetown and Silver Plume, will find no settlements from the time he enters the wonderful canon above Golden until he arrives at the now famous summer resort, Idaho Springs, thirty-five miles west of Denver, and fourteen east of Georgetown, where his eyes will be charmed by the novel and picturesque array of mountain, valley and town. But to see the latter at its best he must leave the cars and walk two or three squares to the principal hotel, where will be presented a series of most entrancing pictures; broad, smooth streets, well shaded; rows of attractive cottages, some pretty churches, lawns and banks of flowers, and be- yond, wherever the gaze may turn, majestic hazy purple hills, in all manner of fantastic configurations, that are a never ending delight, never wearisome or monotonous, never exactly the same, but constantly changing with the radiant sunny lights and shadows cast by swiftly rising and moving clouds.
The lower margins of Idaho and Payne's Bars on which the town is located, were once torn up and tunneled by hordes of gold diggers, none of whom, however, found there any adequate compensation for the prodigious labor they performed. But just below, on the comparatively level spot christened Illinois Bar, and opposite on Grass Valley Bar and along the slope of Soda Hill, large quantities of dust were obtained, for there the deposits were rich and easily found. It was there that the author spent a season-1861-'62-in the pursuit of fortune, gathering a few hundreds, but not the coveted thousands of dollars from the delusive sands and gravels.
The altitude of these bars and of the town itself is about 8,000 feet above the sea, and the stranger would naturally anticipate a rigorous climate in winter, from the position, for by casting his eyes toward the Snowy Range he observes that it is crowned with snow and ice even in midsummer, and will be told, if he inquires, that snow falls there nearly every day in the year. Notwithstanding its proximity to those storm
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centers, the climate of the valley is singularly mild and free from severe visitations all the year round, but especially genial between May and January. Indeed, there is no more hospitable climate than this in all the Rocky Mountain region, nor a more inviting dwelling place for such as prefer a quiet, peaceful resort.
The Mineral Springs that form the attraction for invalids and tourists in summer, are situated on a small tributary of the principal stream, called Soda Creek, a stone's throw above its mouth, within easy walking distance from the town. We have related in our first volume, how Jackson, the first discoverer of gold in that region, happened upon these springs early in January, 1859, when the whole face of the country was buried in snow, the streams frozen; hundreds of "big horns" or mountain sheep were gathered about them, nibbling the scant herbage from which the warm vapors had melted the white covering. They were not utilized for bathing purposes, however, until 1863, when Dr. E. S. Cummings put a small, cheaply constructed bathhouse over them. He retained possession, and was sparingly patronized until 1866, when the title passed to the present owner-Harrison Montague, who made some further improvements, but by no means commensurate with the importance of his acquisition or the public demand. These delicious thermal waters are worthy of better appreciation, more distinguished improvements, than have been placed about them; worthy of splendid buildings, luxu- rious bathing rooms with the finest of modern appliances; worthy the patronage of kings and princes, for there are no better of their class under the sun. Had General Palmer and his cooperators, instead of the Union Pacific managers, built the little narrow gauge thoroughfare that unites them with the plains and all the exterior world, Idaho would have been made one of the most celebrated of American resorts, a veritable mountain elysium, and these springs, with their beautiful environs, the rivals of the best in Europe, or in Christendom. The waters are chiefly mild solutions of carbonate and sulphate of soda, varying in temperature from 75 degrees to 120 degrees. The supply is ample for any demand present or future, for tubs and swimming pools, and are much sought for the cure of rheumatic and cutaneous ailments.
From 1859 until 1865, the region round about was a mining region, nothing more. Idaho did not become a popular summer resort until after 1870, when the baths brought it into prominence among travelers. Though the site was an extremely attractive one, it was thinly sprinkled with rough log cabins indicating temporary occu- pancy, feeble growth, and not sanguine hopes for the future. The placer mines created no excitement after 1862, but the discovery and desultory operation of a few mineral veins in Virginia Canon, where a wagon road connects it with the great gold mining towns of Gilpin County, contributed small sums for its support. For a year or two Jimmy Hamilton and Bob Diefendorf kept a saloon in a log cabin opposite the Beebee House, where the miners congregated and squandered their hard earned dust in fiery liquids, suggestive of insanity and murder.
Among the early residents were Robert H. Gilson, Dennis Faivre, R. B. Griswold, F. W. Beebee, W. L. Campbell, Mr. Kelso, the Masons, and their families; M. O. Cod- dington, H. Plummer, George Patten, P. P. Schafter, Dr. Noxon, Dr. Seaton, S. Womack, Dr. Holland, P. Theobold, Theodore Lowe, John Iverson, Gilbert B. Reed, Wm. Hobbs, S. S. Cook, O. J. Hollister, Mike Dougherty and others, whose names are not recalled.
The Rock Island House was built in 1861 by William Hunter, a primitive hostelry
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of logs, with three rooms-most of its contemporaries had but one-and is still one of the old landmarks. The place was remarkably free from romantic and exciting adventures, notwithstanding its identity as a mining camp.
In 1860, F. W. Beebee and wife came and housed themselves in an unpretentious dirt roofed, floorless cabin on Illinois Bar, where the sluices glistened with gold and heaps of boulders everywhere attested the discovery of its hiding places in pay streaks above and on the shaly bed rock. Soon after, they moved up to Idaho, just above Vir- ginia Cañon, and there in a somewhat larger cabin opened a hotel, the Beebee House, a name as familiar as Colorado to all the pioneers. The price of day board was $30 a week,-the bill of fare the best the market afforded, principally bacon, beans, hominy, bread, dried apples, tea and coffee, with butter and milk when such luxuries were obtain- able. At length a sort of postoffice was established-in a candle box partitioned off into little pigeon holes, and set up where most convenient. Mrs. R. B. Griswold was the first postmistress, and the office sat bolt upright upon her parlor table, calm if not regal, dignified and inviting to such of those lonely dwellers as ever expected any mail from distant friends. In 1868 a stage line between Denver and Georgetown was estab- lished, when George Patten was invested with the dignities and responsibilities of receiving and dispatching Uncle Sam's mails.
The first stamp mill was built by Dr. Seaton of Louisville, Kentucky, about the year 1861, just below Idaho near the head of Grass Valley Bar, and designed for reducing the ores of the Seaton Lode, discovered by him.
The first newspaper was established by Halsey M. Rhoads,-printed in Central City, but bearing date Idaho Springs. This was in 1873. The enterprise survived but a short time. The next was the "Iris," published by E. A. Benedict in 1879. It was succeeded by the Idaho Springs "News." The present population is about 1,500. It has made rapid advances in the last decade, both in population and the number and architectural beauty of its homes.
Fifteen miles to the southward near the summit of the range which divides Clear Creek from Park County, are three beautiful fresh water lakes, perched 11,500 feet above the sea, clear as crystal, cold as the frosts of winter, swarming with speckled trout. The larger covers an area of about 100 acres; the second is about half as large, and the third covers some twenty acres. It is here that Chicago and Bear Creeks are born, just under the shadows of mountain peaks, some of them more than 14,000 feet high,-Mount Evans, the Chief, Squaw and Pappoose. Numerous other small sheets of water are found in secluded nooks here and there in the same chain, but these are .seldom visited.
Organization of the County .- Soon after his arrival in the Territory, Governor Gilpin appointed John A. Meredith, S. Edwards and E. F. Cross commissioners to organize civil government in the county of Clear Creek. This board met at Idaho, November 15th, 1861, when Mr. Edwards was elected chairman, and Meredith clerk. The general business connected with their appointment was considered, but no definite action taken until the 18th, when they met at the house of William Spruance and pro- ceeded to subdivide the county into seven voting precincts, as follows: Independent, Idaho, Fall River, Trail Creek, Silver City, Mill City and Empire. Polling places were
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designated and judges of election appointed, but the records do not contain a full list of the names of such officers.
December 4th following, the votes having been cast for county officers, and duly returned to the board, they were canvassed and the following declared elected:
Sheriff, Thomas Moses, Jr .; clerk and recorder, George C. Bowen; treasurer, Robert R. Peters: assessor, W. B. Lawrence; county attorney, Gilbert B. Reed (now Supreme Court commissioner); surveyor, Eugene F. Holland; coroner, D. W. King; superintendent of schools, P. C. Hale; probate judge, George H. Perrin ; commis- sioners, W. W. Ware (three years), W. C. M. Jones (two years), and George F. Griffith (one year).
Spanish Bar, a mile west of Idaho Springs, still bears the marks of having been scarred and torn by the early vandals in their mad search for golden secrets hidden away beneath vast depositions of boulders and gravel in the channels of the creek, new and old, and in the fissure veins that outcrop upon the hillsides. It was at this partic- ular point, in the midst of a multitude of diggers, rockers and sluicers, gathered from many States and climes, that I took my first lessons in the science of mining, a rough but healthful and strengthening experience, full of knocks and bruises, of trials and disappointments, yet not wholly without profit, for in the six months of digging, wheeling, tunneling and timbering, after consuming all the provisions and clothing we had brought from the States, we gathered not less than ten dollars' worth of shining metal, with a harvest of knowledge that has lasted the better part of a lifetime. Happily the workers of other claims were more fortunate. Andrew Sagendorf, O. E. Lehow, E. F. Shindel, M. B. Graeff, S. V. Thompson, D. B. Myers, - Davis, A. S. Bennett, a party of Mex- icans, another from Iowa, still another from Illinois, were among the original locators of claims on this Bar. N. S. Hurd, present state commissioner of insurance, resided with his father, mother and sister, at the mouth of Trail Creek. During 1860 large quanti- ties of gold were taken out, but the operations ceased with 1861. A number of lodes were prospected, but none thoroughly opened until some years later. The veins were narrow, the inclosing country rock, hard and tough. The first stamp mill in this region, and the first of any consequence in the county, was erected by an aristocratic and somewhat eccentric person named Colonel Hart, representing the Silver Spring Mining Company (George L. Nicholls manager), a twenty stamper, inclosed in a large and substantial frame building, the machinery operated by water power. He erected also a small stone house for his private residence and business office. Such surface ores as were produced in the neighborhood were reduced in this mill, but the results were not profitable, and both mill and mines were soon abandoned. The Whale lode, discovered by. Dr. and Roland Carleton in 1861, was opened to a greater extent than any other on the Bar. The surface quartz contained some gold, but silver predominated. After exhausting their resources in ineffectual endeavors to make it pay, they deserted the mine and the region, Roland going East, and his brother, the doctor, to Empire. Some years afterward, the Whale and Hukill lodes, the latter an extension of the Whale on the north side of the creek, fell into the hands of Mr. John M. Dumont, who devel- oped both, found very rich silver ores, marketed them at a profit, and finally sold both properties to a California company, F. F. Osbiston, manager. Messrs. Thatch & Kin-
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struck a vein of extraordinary richness, and named it the "Free America." He ex- tracted a quantity of ore, sent it to the nearest market, and received surprising returns. Reports of his find soon spread abroad and brought a multitude of prospectors to the spot.
Dulaney sold to General J. I. Gilbert and W H. Moore for $25,000 cash, and they for a much larger sum to " Diamond Joe " Reynolds of Chicago, James M. Daly, man- ager. Many other discoveries followed ; the town of Lawson was built, a small town to be sure, but densely populated in its palmy days, when the mines were at their best and richest, when hundreds of thousands rewarded diligent effort. The "Free America," "Boulder Nest," "White," and a few others, being very large producers, gave the new camp great prestige and their owners gratifying profits. It was a sort of supplement to the wild whirl of excitement previously witnessed in Georgetown, but which had begun to wane owing to litigation and other causes affecting the principal operators, the failure of "processes," etc. The district, for some undefinable reason, was christened "Red Elephant." Although its fame is now but a memory of departed years, by virtue of the exhaustion of the richer deposits that contributed to its prom- inence, it is still a considerable producer of valuable ores, and maintains a large number of miners.
Empire is a beautiful, grass covered, delightfully shaded and abundantly watered hamlet, four miles from Georgetown, on the west fork of Clear Creek, a few miles below its source in the lofty ranges which divide Clear Creek Valley from Middle Park. It is one mile from the Colorado Central Railway on its course to Georgetown and Silver Plume. It is one of the loveliest spots in the county. The scenery is grand beyond the power of pen to describe. Hollister, who wrote in 1866, says: "Of all the towns brought into existence by the fame of Cherry Creek sands, Empire bears away the palm for a pretty location and picturesque surroundings. Imagine a lively stream, tumbling and rushing toward sunrise forever, at the bottom of an open cañon two to four thousand feet in depth. Formed by innumerable rivulets from a thousand heavy snow wreaths in sight, it is pure and clear and cool. Two brooks, Lyons' from the north and Bard's from the south, flow into the main stream opposite each other, their deltas with the natural bars of the creek forming the town plat. Four mountains, Lincoln, . Douglas, Covode and Eureka, constitute bold promontories, perhaps a thousand feet in altitude, between the creeks. The scenery is Alpine, and the elevation being 8,871 feet above the sea level, the climate, summer and winter, is salubrious and tonic."
The bar is broad and smooth, adorned with pines, spruces and firs, the water courses fringed with indigenous shrubs. It has never been excoriated and rendered hideous by the relentless diggers for gold, as no valuable veins or placer deposits exist there. The trees and shrubbery have been spared, the lavish beauties of nature left as the original settlers found them.
Empire is within the boundaries of Union Mining District, organized in the spring of 1860 by a band of prospectors from Spanish Bar, George Merrill, Joseph Musser, George L. Nicholls and D. C. Skinner. The first cabin on the site was built by Merrill and Musser. Dr. Bard, whose name was given to one of the creeks, is said to have driven the first wagon to that point. Says Aaron Frost :* "It was about the first day
* History of Clear Creek, O. L. Baskin & Co., Chicago, 1880.
demage Mackenzie Griffin
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HISTORY OF CLEAR CREEK COUNTY.
of August, 1860, that Edgar Freeman and H. C. Cowles, two of the most persistent prospectors that ever shouldered a pick, climbed over the mountains from the diggings about Central City, and dropped down into the valley of Empire. They prospected and found two minute bits of wire gold in Eureka Mountain." Farther research dis- closed the presence of gold in large quantities. Their secret soon became an open proclamation, when the usual crowds began to pour in. Valuable lodes were added to the placers. The number of people was so great, organization and laws became imperative for government, so the district came into being. Henry Hill was made president, H. C. Cowles judge of the Miners' Court; David J. Ball, clerk and re- corder; James Ross, sheriff, and George L. Nicholls, surveyor. Laws were drafted, boundaries defined, and proper records made. During the winter, spring and summer of 1861, the population steadily increased, and a great many cabins were built. All these transactions, be it remembered, were mainly designed to cover the mines at North Empire, on the mountain sides a mile or two above the town first located and herein described. The placers were situated in Silver Mountain, and found extremely rich in gold, the claims taken covering nearly the entire southeastern exposure of that slope. The faces of the neighboring hills were quickly despoiled of their timber, and pitted with prospect holes, shafts, tunnels and adits. The miners dug and sluiced away down to the bed rock all the soil that covered this mountain side, leaving it bare and for- bidding. Within a few months the region round about looked as if the besom of destruction had passed that way. Quartz mills were built and some of them success- fully operated. Many shafts were sunk upon quartz lodes and a few tunnels begun. For a year or two, while the yields were satisfactory, it fairly outstripped any other point in the county. Then it was abandoned, and remained practically unproductive until very recent years, when John Dumont came in, and, as at Mill City and Freeland, at- tempted a general resurrection.
The town of Lower Empire was surveyed and platted by George L. Nicholls, Henry Hill, H. C. Cowles, David J. Ball and Edgar Freeman. They took infinite pride in this enterprise, yet it never progressed beyond the restricted dimensions of a pretty mountain hamlet, a bewitching resort in summer, yet appreciated by only a few. The attraction for capital and labor was in its rival, Upper Empire, the old time pres- tige of which, it is hoped, Mr. Dumont will be able to restore.
Georgetown .- No one contests the assertion that George F. and his brother D. T. Griffith, were the first to discover silver mines, near the spot where Georgetown was built. They had been miners on Spanish Bar, were young, intelligent, filled with enthusiasm. One of them, George F., if I remember correctly, had studied law, and for a time was attached to Judge Turnley's court on the Bar just named, where all the records of the district were kept. The office was in a large log cabin that stood upon a point on the west side of Clear Creek, just opposite the great mill erected twenty years later by Mr. Osbiston. I think he acted as counsel in some of the civil cases heard by Turnley in 1860. I am writing from remembrances of thirty years ago, and they have become indistinct.
All the miners of that period were given to exploring the hills. The Griffith brothers, in the course of their wanderings, explored the creek to its head, in quest of gold mines. The great number of outcroppings soon attracted their attention. The
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first encountered was christened the Griffith lode. They extracted some of the quartz, pulverized and panned it, obtaining excellent results. They built a stamp mill, but the enterprise was a failure. Others followed upon their trail and made some discoveries. Griffith District was formed, James Burrell, president; George Griffith, recorder of claims.
It is related by Frost that the Ida silver mine was found by D. C. Daley in Sep- tember, 1860, on Silver Mountain, near Empire; that the mineral was assayed in Cen- tral City and found to contain 723 ounces of silver per cord, or 100 ounces per ton. Prior to the introduction of smelters, all surface and other ores were measured by the cord-eight tons' average.
The next record is that of the discovery of silver-bearing veins in Upper Fall River, where E. H. N. Patterson, afterward editor of the "Colorado Miner," labored, and in his intervals of leisure, wrote spicy letters to the Rocky Mountain "News," and the Western "Mountaineer," all laden of course with the glories of this particular district.
The actual era of silver mining was not opened, however, until some years later. In the month of September, 1864, R. W. Steele, ex-Provisional Governor of Jefferson . Territory-at this time a resident of Georgetown-in company with James Huff and Robert Layton, while wandering over the mountains in what is now East Argentine dis- trict, discovered and partially opened a vein which they called the "Belmont," (subse- quently renamed the Johnson). These men were led in that direction by the belief that silver mines existed, "in and around the range, near the heads of the southwestern branches of Clear Creek where the same interlock with the heads of the Snake." Hol- lister, who obtained his account from a member of the party, states in substance, that after two or three days, they encamped in Huff Gulch where the first cabin in Argen- tine was built. "Next morning Huff went directly up the long eastern slope of McClellan Mountain, Steele and Layton going up Huff Gulch, to the right, and all intending to meet somewhere on the summit, and should nothing be found, seek a pass through to the Snakes. It happened that Huff passed over the outcropping of what was afterward designated the Belmont lode." He picked up some of the croppings and upon exhibiting them to his comrades, all agreed that it was silver ore or blossom, and they need go no further. Opening the ground slightly, they got a few pounds from the vein in place, took it to Central City and had it assayed, with results varying from $200 to $500 per ton.
Some of their friends were apprised of the find, given shares in it, and the Sun Sil- ver Mining Company arose from these proceedings. The following winter six accurate assays were made, one each by Prof. N. P. Hill of Providence, Rhode Island, Behr & Keith at Black Hawk, F. T. Sherman of Central, and George W. McClure of the Denver Branch Mint, and two by Professor Dibben of New York, the average result being $827.48 per ton, gold and silver, the latter predominating.
The locality is about eight miles above Georgetown, and this discovery, which began the first chapter of chronicles in silver mining and production in the Rocky Mountains, was made September 14th, 1864. During 1865 there was a tumultuous rush to the spot. The newspapers of the day blazed with accounts of the marvelous rev- elation. It was opportune, for the confidence of men in the stability of the country
Orchard Ola
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had begun to wane. Gilpin County had sold all her better mines in New York, and the new owners had made lamentable failures of them. This was about the only productive region we had. Gulch and placer mining had reached the final stage, hence the revival of interest at the head of Clear Creek created a mighty sensation.
A district embracing the sources of the south fork of South Clear Creek, and the north branch of the North Platte was defined, and called Argentine. The lodes gen- erally assayed high in silver, and during the winter of 1865-66 several Eastern and some local companies were formed.
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