History of the State of Colorado, Volume IV, Part 38

Author: Hall, Frank, 1836-1917. cn; Rocky Mountain Historical Company
Publication date: 1889-95
Publisher: Chicago, Blakely print. Co.
Number of Pages: 791

USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Volume IV > Part 38

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Pueblo, A. G. Siddons, cashier. Ile was succeeded by A. V. Bradford, he in turn by J. M. Jardine, and the latter by E. J. Bent, the present incumbent. The capital is $50,000. The First National Bank was opened for business September 5th, 1889, with George Arthur Rice, president, L. L. Bailey, cashier, and A. G. Siddons, assistant, which positions they still retain. The capital is $50,000.

Ouray is lighted by electric incandescent lamps and arc lights. The Opera house, built by H. E. Wright, has a seating capacity of 500 to 600. The Beaumont hotel is one of the best in the commonwealth. There are many substantial brick business houses, and in the residence portion many pretty cottages. It is in all respects a strong and beautiful town with unequaled scenic environments. It is the center of all the great mining interests of that region. Watered at its feet by the Uncompalgre river, which is of about the same size and character as the Rio Animas at Durango, it flows rapidly down into the Uncompahgre valley below, where it is utilized in irrigating the splendid farming lands, thence onward to Mont- rose and Delta. A few miles below Ouray we pass out of the narrow canon into a semi-tropical region-the fertile Uncompahgre Park-where there are no mines, but well-cultivated farms instead, bearing grand crops of grain, vegetables, fruits, alfalfa, etc. Only a few years ago this valley was an Indian hunting ground, nothing more. While bordered by high mountains on either side, they are distant, and, instead of rendering the country bleak and uninviting to the husbandman, shelter and protect it from violent storms, tempering the climate to the exact conditions required for agricultural progress.

On the bordering mesa or table-lands, large herds of cattle are pastured. It is like stepping out of the region of winter into a land blossoming with flowers. Portland is a small settlement four miles below Ouray, situated on the Uncompahgre. It was surveyed and platted by the Reed brothers in February, 1883, and is a charni- ing spot.

Ridgway, ten to twelve miles north of Ouray, is the initial point of the Rio Grande Southern railway, a narrow gauge road, whence it supplies Telluride in San Miguel county, Rico in Dolores, and passing thence southwesterly unites with the Denver & Rio Grande system of roads at Durango, in La Plata county. This being an exceptional enterprise, and one of vast importance to the regions penetrated, it is proper to give a brief account of its origin and progress.

The Rio Grande Southern Railway company was originally composed of Otto Mears, Fred Walsen, M. D. Thatcher, Job A. Cooper, Wm. S. Jackson, John L. McNeil and Joseph W. Gilluly. Its officers are: Otto Mears, president and gen- eral manager; J. W. Gilluly, treasurer, and John L. McNeil, secretary. The road was begun at Ridgway station on the D. & R. G. branch from Montrose to Ouray April 25th, 1890, and completed to Telluride, forty-six miles, November 15th, 1800. The line from Illium station to Telluride is a branch designed for the accommodation of the capital and the chief mining points of San Miguel county. The main line continues southwesterly to Rico, to which place it was completed September 30th, 1891. From thence it runs southwesterly to Dolores, through the county of that name, and thence southeasterly to its terminus at Durango, penetrating the county of Montezuma en route, and opening to settlement and commerce an immense region filled with all manner of resources. The length of this line is about 175 miles, and is wholly through a mountainous region, with some very heavy grades, tall bridges and much expensive rock cutting. The cost when finished was about $5,000,000, all local capital. In the amount of new territory thus rendered accessible to the principal markets of the state, and in the magnitude of the new enterprises that will soon be established there, the Rio Grande Southern must be regarded as one of the more consequential thoroughfares of the state. The credit of its inception and much of the spirit that moved its rapid construction must be given to its

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president, Mr. Otto Mears, whose directing hand now controls all of the traffic of the mines of the southwest. (See history of San Juan county, this volume.)

Ridgway, named for superintendent R. M. Ridgway of the mountain division of the Denver & Rio Grande, has superseded the town of Dallas, a short distance below, and, as the junction of the D. & R. G. branch from Montrose to Ouray and the Rio Grande Southern, has absorbed much of its importance. The new town was surveyed by Geo. R. Hurlburt and the plat filed July 7th, 1890. It was laid off by the Ridgway Town Site company June 16th, 1890, Charles H. Nix, presi- dent, and W. A. Sherman, secretary. An effort is being made to build up a strong, substantial place. Several stores and residences have been erected, a large fine hotel built, a weekly newspaper established. The town was incorporated in the , spring of 1891. At this point the valley of the Uncompalgre reaches its broadest dimensions in the twelve miles between Ouray and Uncompahgre Park below or north of Dallas, Leaving Ridgway for Telluride, the Rio Grande Southern passes through the lower part of the magnificent agricultural valley of Dallas creek, named for Geo. N. Dallas (vice-president of the United States with James K. Polk), one of the loveliest and most fruitful parks in Ouray county and under high cultivation. The original Indian name was Unaweep. What a pity it was changed. It is not very extensive, but very beautiful, dotted with productive farms. Upon the exterior slopes are fine grazing ranges for cattle.

We will now retrace our steps to the capital of the county and examine its chief mining districts, Red Mountain and Ironton.

Red Mountain mining district, which takes its designation from three scarlet peaks, at the feet of which it is situated, at an altitude of about 11,300 feet above the sea, is one of the most remarkable mineral-bearing sections of the state. The town is within one mile of the boundary line between San Juan and Ouray counties, twelve miles south of Ouray. Some discoveries of mineral in this region appear to have been made in September, 1879, but, owing to its inaccessibility, the severity of its winters and the difficulty of constructing roads for the ingress of supplies and egress of ores, no development of consequence occurred until 1882-83. In the summer of 1881-as we learn from Mr. Wm. Weston-John Robinson, A. Meldrum, A. E. Long and A. Deitlaf discovered the Guston mine, but, as the ore was not at the surface of sufficient value to warrant shipping to market, they went out when winter approached but returned in the spring of 1882, when Mr. D. C. Hartwell, agent for the Pueblo Smelting and Refining Co. in Ouray, anxious to obtain lead ores, induced them to develop the Guston. On the 14th of August following Mr. John Robinson, while hunting deer in Red Mountain Park, picked up a fragment of rock, and, surprised at its weight, broke it and found it to be solid galena. He then began prospecting for its source, and soon discovered the Yankee Girl mine, which on being opened revealed an enormous body of valuable ore. On the 20th of Septem- ber, when the shaft was only twenty feet deep, it was sold for $125,000 cash. As there were no sides or bottom to the ore, it was impossible to define the course of the vein, but, to secure it beyond doubt, two other claims adjoining were staked, the Robinson and the Orphan Boy, both of which proved almost equally valuable. The mineral taken out was shipped by mule pack trains across the divide to Silver- ton. The Guston and the Yankee Girl are about 300 yards apart. These discoveries brought clouds of prospectors, scores of claims were located and thus Red Moun- tain sprang into a camp of great importance. The first wagon road was commenced in the autumn of 1883. The Yankee Girl is now owned by an English company, stocked for £240,000, and has been developed by the better methods. The Genessee was located in 1882 by Jasper Brown and Adelbert Parsell, which, with the Adelbert, is owned by a St. Louis company.

The town of Red Mountain, at first a small collection of tents, now bears the characteristic appearance of a hurriedly built mining settlement. It was platted

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June 18th, 1883, and is connected with Silverton by Mr. Otto Mears' railway across the intervening range, which has been described in the history of San Juan county. It has a system of water works, a school house, a number of business houses and shops of various kinds, an excellent, well-edited weekly newspaper, secret and benevolent orders, and a municipal or town government which, in 1891, was com- posed of the following: Mayor, A. Johnson; trustees (2 years), Theo. Ressouches, Harry Ilope and C. Hoeffel; trustees (1 year), Samuel Leslie, D. S. Baxter and Wm. Quigley; treasurer, James Duggan; marshal, Fred C. Rosen; clerk, W. H. Barton.

The Scarlet Peaks .- Considering the origin of the many brilliant colors pre- sented by the Red Mountain peaks, which are the wonder of all beholders, Prof. Hayden in his report for 1876 says: "They are due to admixtures of certain mineral substances. Dark colors may be said to be characteristic of the main bulk of this group, but a very prominent exception is made by what I have termed 'the red stratum.' Originally white, the presence of ferric oxygen compounds gradually changes this color to yellow, orange, red and brown. The rock is a micro- crystalline, fellspathic paste of white color, containing very minute transparent crystals of sanidite and small crystals of pyrite. Throughout the district, wherever this stratum could be traced, the crystals of pyrite were contained in it as an im- pregnation. Decomposition of pyrite releases the sulphur and changes the iron from a bisulphide to hydrated sesqui oxide. This, in varying percentages, produces the colors and shades above enumerated. This mineral (pyrite) was probably segregated during the period of the cooling of the rock. Its presence denotes nothing save the existence and ejection of a large amount of iron and sulphur at the time of eruption."

It was by Hayden's indication of mineral-bearing zones in this district that Leadville and other prospectors were led to it and to the great discoveries there- after made.

Ironton, three miles below Red Mountain, was founded in 1883 and its plat filed March 20th, 1884. It is situated at the head of Red Mountain Park, the terminus of the Rainbow railway, whence passengers, mail and express are con- veyed by a four-horse stage down through the marvelous canon of the Uncompahgre to Ouray. From Ironton may be seen the more celebrated groups of mines situate upon the mountain sides, the Saratoga, Candice, Silver Bell, Paymaster, Guston, Robinson, Yankee Girl, Genessee-Vanderbilt, National Bell, and many others, sur- mounted by suitable buildings filled with mining machinery. It has a town government, composed of Lon Hunter, mayor; trustees, C. M. Straver, A. G. Bruner, J. H. Slattery, Jas. Winchester, Frank Leonard and O. P. Lyon; treasurer, Thos. Ilunter ; clerk, A. S. Holman; justice of the peace, Finney Jones.

Red Mountain district extends from Ironton south to the boundary line of the county, some five miles. Only a limited number of the veins discovered and recorded are extensively developed. From these millions have been extracted. For the general characteristics of the country and its mineral deposits we abstract the following notes from a paper published by Mr. T. E. Schwartz, a prominent mining engineer, until quite recently manager of the Yankee Girl and new Guston properties, read by him before the American Institute of Mining Engineers: "It is in the heart of a very extensive area of eruptive rocks, andesites, trachytes and breccias, in which occur most of the productive camps of the San Juan country, such as Marshall Basin, Mt. Sneffels, Mineral Point, Lake City and Silverton, all within a radius of fifteen to twenty miles. The topography of the district is marked by bare, ragged cliffs and red patches of oxidized material on the upper mountain sides, while below are considerable areas of heavy slide rock, carrying large detached masses. Between these areas of detritus occur benches and terraces cov- ered with shallow soil, and diversified here and there by knolls or mounds of hard,

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porous, siliceous rocks with a reddish hue or stain. The ores are classified as (1) secondary or oxidized ores; (2) the primary or unoxidized ores. In some properties ores of both character occur, the one beginning where the other terminates.

"The secondary ores occur above a former water-line, either attached to the walls of caves, as broken detached masses, or as a bed of clayey inud or sand, more or less completely filling the caves. The cave formation is identified with the massive outcroppings or knolls of silicified andesite, ordinarily termed 'quartz.' These knolls rise 25 to 200 feet above the surrounding surface, and, while sometimes quite conical in appearance, they more generally have a greater length than width, in some instances being 400 to 500 feet long by 200 feet wide. They present a rough mass of quartz, cut up by cross fractures, and showing small vughs and cavities on the exposed cliff faces. The ore-bearing caves, which ramify throughout the mass, generally come to the surface along the cliff base, where they are partially or wholly covered by slide. In size the caves vary up to chambers of 50 feet in diameter, which are connected by irregular rounded passages, branching out toward the surface, but diminishing and coming together in depth. The ores are mainly carbonates of lead and of iron, together with the iron oxides, lead sulphates and arsenates. Kaolinite occurs in considerable quantities and zinc blende is common. The latter occurs in botryoidal masses, consisting of nearly concentric fibrous layers, and is usually found detached from cave walls. Galena also occurs, but generally as the core of an oxidized mass. Such are the ores of the National Belle, Grand Prize and Vanderbilt mines, while other properties near by, viz., those in the Enter- prise group, omit the lead minerals and carry the oxide and sulphide of bismuth.

"(1) The secondary ores are richer than the sulphide ores occurring between them; (2) the ores of adjoining or connecting caves are sometimes greatly different in grade. (3) In some cases the formation of the caves along fracture or cleavage planes is evident, but in others all traces of such planes are quite obliterated. (4) The cave walls are a porous, sandy quartz, the sand from the disintegration of which forms part of the cave filling. (5) The line of change from oxidized to unoxidized ores, or the former water-level, is very marked. It varies as much as 100 feet in elevation in properties within 1,000 feet of each other, rising to the south and west. The quartz outcrop rarely rises more than 200 feet above it. (6) In isolated cases may be found masses of the unoxidized ore, the enargite, above the lines of change, in the vicinity of the secondary ores. The formation of these ores is readily ac- counted for in the oxidizing and dissolving properties of surface waters, which, moving along the fracture planes, took into solution the original sulphide ores and portions of the adjoining rock, and deposited new ore bodies in the resulting caves.

"The bulk of the Red Mountain product has consisted of the primary ores. Although large amounts of the carbonate ores have been shipped from such properties as the National Belle and Vanderbilt, their depth is soon exhausted and sulphide ores are reached. The latter begin where the cave ores cease, and in many properties, such as the Yankee Girl, Hudson, Guston and Silver Bell, in which the cave-formation has been removed by erosion, or never existed, they outcrop at or near the surface. They consist of a great variety of the sulphides and sulphar- senites of the metals, and are productive of the following minerals in quantity, viz., enargite, galena, chalcopyrite, erubescite bismuthinite, gray copper and stromeyer- ite. Among the minerals of rarer occurrence are silver glance, polybasite tennantite. proustite and others not yet determined. Associated with these ores are rhodonite, gypsum, heavy spar and kaolinite.

"(I) )The ores occur as 'chimneys,' so called, having in some cases an elliptical or a circular cross section, but more generally long in proportion to their width. The greatest length of ore body so far observed has been about sixty feet. (2) The immediate envelope of the ore chimneys is 'quartz,' which is sometimes of consid- erable extent, while the whole is enclosed in an area of greater or less extent of

SEVEN-THIRTY MINE, & BURLEIGH TUNNEL

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andesite. In the case of six chimneys occurring on the Yankee Girl, Guston and Silver Bell properties, being the only ones on which depth has been obtained, a marked increase in the silver content of the ores occurred from the surface down to 300 to 400 feet of depth. Changes in character of ore with depth are noticeable in several chimneys, but notably so in the main Yankee Girl chimney. In this case the distinctive minerals in order of depth have been galena, gray copper, stromeyerite and bornite. In those chimneys in which enargite has been the sur- face ore, no depth has yet been obtained. The chimneys frequently change their pitch, sometimes quite suddenly. Any one chimney may recede from a given vertical line for a considerable distance and then approach it again. A jump of fifteen to twenty-five feet along some horizontal plane is, hot infrequent, rendering it difficult to locate the chimneys on succeeding levels. In the Guston and Yankee Girl, the increase in the amount of the copper ores with depth, and the fact that the silver is confined mainly to such ores, is notable."

Mr. Schwartz concludes by saying, that "to the practical mining man as well as to the theorist, mineralogist and geologist, this section is a most interesting one. Chemical and structural geology here have a brilliant field for study. Many new and rare mineral combinations may here be brought to light. The miner is interested in a district which presents more difficulties in following one's ore body than almost any others, and requires the most careful study of rock faces." In regard to the quality of the Yankee Girl ore, he says, he has shipped several car- loads which carried 1,500 to 3,000 ounces of silver to the ton, and one lot of six tons returned 5,300 ounces to the ton.

As to the present value of this remarkable district in other mines than those enumerated, while it is impracticable and outside of the purpose of these histories to enter upon a description of properties, it may justly be said that within the past three years it has risen to great prominence, from the volume and richness of its products, and now ranks third among the great districts of the state. Some millions of English and American capital have been invested there, the most ini- proved appliances for hoisting, mining, milling and concentrating ores supplied, and the facilities afforded by railway switches leading from all the greater mines to the Rainbow railway for transportation to the ore buyers at Durango, Pueblo and Denver are unequaled by any other mining quarter.

Following were the county officers 1800-1801: Commissioners, Samuel J. Couchman, W. H. Wilson and A. Humphrey; clerk and recorder, Felix J. Par- kins; sheriff, J. F. Bradley; treasurer, J. S. Myers; county judge, W. M. Stewart; assessor, Burr Culver; coroner, James T. Pierson ; superintendent of schools, P. H. Shue; surveyor, F. L. Biddlecumb; clerk of the district court, J. W. Abbott.

Schools. - In 1800 Ouray county had a school population of 733. There were ten districts and an equal number of school houses. The valuation of school prop- erty was $23,800. There were enrolled in the high school 8, in the graded 250 and in the ungraded 328, making a total of 586, with an average daily attendance of 36.1.

The total assessed valuation of taxable property (mines not taxed) for 1800 was $1.255.399.

The agricultural portion of the county, between Portland and Ridgway, as already mentioned, is equal to any within our knowledge, much of it under cultiva- tion and producing bountiful harvests. Its scenie prospects are among the grand- est in the world. The Denver & Rio Grande railroad company completed its branch from Montrose to Dallas near the present site of Ridgway August 31st, 188 -. and its extension thence to the town of Ouray December 27th, 1887, since which time that entire section has been advancing with remarkable rapidity.

In 1880 a series of remarkably rich gokl-bearing veins known as the "Gold Belt" were discovered by Col. Thomas Nash, of Virginia. They are situated along 17-iv

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the crest of the mountain to the right, just below Ouray, and two, the American- Nettie and the Bright Diamond, have been quite extensively developed. Large quantities of ore, extremely rich in gold, have been taken from them. At this writing they are among the more prominent mines of the region.

PARK COUNTY.

PIONEER EXPLORERS OF 1859-DISCOVERY OF GOLD ON TARRVALL-HAMILTON-GOLD AT FAIRPLAY-BUCKSKIN JOE-THE PHILLIPS MINE-MONTGOMERY-NAMING OF MOUNT LINCOLN-BEAVER CREEK PLACERS-DISCOVERY OF SILVER ON MOUNT BROSS-ALMA AND DUDLEY.

This is one of the nine counties originally organized by an act of the first terri- torial legislature in 1861. It embraces and derives its title from the South Park. It is also the geographical and, in a large degree, the geological center of the state of Colorado; bounded on the north by Clear Creek and Summit, south by Fremont and Chaffee, east by Jefferson and El Paso, and west by Summit, Lake and Chaf- fee. Its primary dimensions have been but slightly curtailed by the later institution of counties. Its area is 2,100 square miles. By the census of 1890 its population was 3,548.

The annals of primitive beginnings here are extremely interesting. The facts subjoined comprise the essential particulars, and were obtained from some of the participants in the first exploring party, by whose efforts some important discov- eries were made.

The first authentic record of permanent settlement, caused by the discovery of gold in Park county, dates back to July, 1859, when a party of prospectors who had been unable to secure satisfactory claims in the Gregory diggings, in what is now Gilpin county, organized to explore the western slope. Not one of them had ever seen the country, and they appear to have been led by instinct rather than by knowl- edge, both in the inception of the enterprise and its final issue. We find among the pioneers of that period and of this expedition, the names of W. J. Curtice, Clark Chambers, Earl Hamilton, W. J. Holman, M. V. Spillord, Thomas Cassady, James Merrill and Catesby Dale.

In the month named above, they left Gregory Point, now a part of the incor- porated city of Black Hawk, passed over to South Clear creek (then Vasquez Fork), near the present town of Idaho Springs, thence up Chicago creek, over the main range, crossing the head branches of the North Fork of the South Platte, and also the Kenosha Range via Kenosha creek into South Park. Here they were joined by a company of gold seekers from Wisconsin, consisting of John Aldrich, George Barnes, William Meacham, Thomas Jenkins, John Ilorseman and Edward. Wil- liams. Agreeing to proceed together, they descended into the magnificent basin of the South Park, as beautiful a vision, seen from the summit of the Kenosha Range, as ever mortal eye beheld in the Rocky Mountains, a broad, smooth and compara- tively level plain, surrounded by mountains and threaded by numerous affluents of the Platte river, debouching from the lofty ranges on either side. Skirting the northwestern rim of the park, after two days spent in prospecting with- out satisfactory results, they came to a creek which was named Tarryall, signifying that all the company encamped here, otherwise tarried, for a more thorough search, since the conditions were of the most inviting character.

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Two miles below this spot the town of Hamilton was subsequently located, and in a short time became one of the most populous and attractive mining camps in the country. Here Messrs. Curtice and Chambers, who had acquired their gold dig- ging experience in California, sunk a shaft in the bed of Tarryall creck, panned the dirt thrown out, and by the encouraging exhibit of yellow metal knew they had found a profitable placer. Other pits were excavated at different points, each yield- ing similar results, which settled the problem beyond peradventure. Thus their temporary lodgment became a permanent settlement. The margins of the stream were soon staked off in claims, the first fourteen being limited to 100 feet each. One of the traditions runs, that a member of the party, weary and footsore, perhaps a little discouraged withal, from the long tramp, as he threw himself upon the ground exclaimed: "We have traveled far enough; let us tarry here." "Yes," said Mr. Holman, "we'll tarry all," and by unanimous consent the stream and the dis- trict were christened "Tarryall," which name they retain to the present day.

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History of the State of Colorado, Volume IV, Part 38

Author: Hall, Frank, 1836-1917. cn; Rocky Mountain Historical Company Publication date: 1889-95 Publisher: Chicago, Blakely print. Co. Number of Pages: 791

Author: Hall, Frank, 1836-1917. cn; Rocky Mountain Historical Company
Publication date: 1889-95
Publisher: Chicago, Blakely print. Co.
Number of Pages: 791