History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, Part 8

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co. cn; Vickers, W. B. (William B.), 1838-
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 844

USA > Colorado > Arapahoe County > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 8
USA > Colorado > Denver County > Denver > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 8

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tireless gallop is a marvel of endurance. Yet, in- breeding develops the same characteristics in other horses, and some of the best long-distance racers in the West have been developed among the thorough- breds of Colorado.

Thorough-breeding is still in its infancy in Colo- rado, however, and no one can surely say what the " coming horse " of Colorado will be, or whether he will be able to hold his own with Eastern stables. Thus far, but few Eastern horses have been able to compete with Colorado-bred stock in trials of speed on our own turf, but this is accounted for on the very natural and reasonable theory that Colorado air is " too thin " for equine lungs unac- customed thereto, while home-bred horses, on the contrary, are thereby inspired to greater exertions. The reverse would be equally true, no doubt, and Colorado-bred horses would probably fare hard in the air of lower altitudes.

Returning to the main question-the breeding of beef cattle for home and Eastern markets-it would be interesting, if it were possible, to give statistics of the enormous trade in Colorado alone, not to mention New Mexico and Wyoming, which, for breeding purposes, are practically parts of Colo- rado itself. A few months ago, an intelligent cor- respondent of the New York Commercial Bulletin, writing from Colorado, gave the following :

" At the East, we have but an imperfect concep- tion of its value and rapid growth. But the simple fact that the exports from Colorado alone, during the past five years, have exceeded in value the ship- ments of bullion, and the further fact that what is known as the great cattle-raising belt is estimated to-day to contain over fifteen million head, worth upward of $300,000,000, are calculated to very materially expand those conceptions. The corre- spondent states that there are many reasons point- ing to the ultimate absorption of the business on the plains in the hands of the large owners, whose competition wipes out the profits of the small ranchers. Already the Iliffs, the Bosters, Dorsey, Waddingham, Craig, Hall Brothers, and others, have each nearly as many cattle as existed in either

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

of the territories a year ago, and togetber, have more than existed in New Mexico, Colorado and Nebraska combined. Just now there is great alarm on account of the fear that the pleuro-pneu- monia will bankrupt the stockmen of the plains. If it gains a fast hold here, it may be impossible to stop it. There will be strong pressure for such legislation at the next session of Congress as will keep it at a distance. The Western members nearly all favor stringent measures, whatever these may be, and hence it is generally certain that some- thing will be done."

The " alarm " of which the correspondent writes was more imaginary than real, and yet any fatal disease would work incalculable injury to the industry. The fear of future consolidation is something more tangible. As the big fish invari- ably swallow the little ones, so the large herds must swallow or drive out the smaller ones. The Hnerfano Valley, in Southern Colorado, near Pueblo, is almost monopolized by the Colorado Cattle Company, a wealthy corporation which bought the famous Craig ranche and other claims in that locality, and have from 20,000 to 30,000 head of cattle ranging over that country, to the exclusion of small operators.

Should the time ever come when Congress, anxious to " realize " on the pasture-lands of Colo- rado, offers them in large tracts at low figures, the bone and sinew would be knocked entirely out of the stock business in this State. It is claimed that, under the present arrangement, the cattle range produces no revenue to the General Govern- ment, being free to all comers, and no one being willing or able to pay the Government price of $1.25 per acre for land worth in open market not more than one-fifth of that sum. The cattle kings, however, are willing to buy it in tracts of five or ten thousand acres at its cash value, and Congress is tempted to make that disposition of it, rather than let it lie waste. The arguments in favor of this plan are specious, and well calculated to de- ceive the average Congressman. No doubt the General Government would realize something from

the sale of these lands in the manner and on the terms proposed, but it would be at the expense of thousands of poor but honest stockmen, who would be " squeezed " out of the business thereby.

Nor is it altogether certain that the "kings " themselves would be benefited by the working of the plan proposed, although they could protect themselves „against its disadvantages better than men with less capital at their command. The weight of opinion among experienced stockmen tends to the theory that the range should remain open rather than be closed. An inclosure of even 50,000 acres would hardly be large enough for a herd of 10,000 cattle, and there are many such herds in Colorado, not to mention many larger ones. The winter storms, which are so fatal to stoek interests in this locality, are usually local. On the open range, cattle can drift away from bad weather, and often, by traveling from twenty to fifty miles, they find an open country, with plenty of grass and water for their needs, when their home range is covered with snow. If they were confined within an inclosure, or even stopped by a fence in their stampede before a storm, many of them would perish who might otherwise escape. Of course, the stampeding and consequent seattering of stock during the winter involves considerable trouble and expense, connected with the annual ".round-np " and separation of the intermingled brands, but the very convenient arrangement for rounding up the cattle of the whole State, under the operation of the stock law, reduces this business to an exact science, and leaves little more to be desired.

To the stranger in Colorado, nothing connected with the cattle business can be more interesting than a general round-up on the plains, where the cattle are abundant. It is not unusual to see 10,- 000 head gathered together in a compact but inov- ing, animated mass-a forest of horns and heads, tossing up and down like the tronbled waves of a sea. Circling around the outside of the immense herd are the well-mounted "cowboys," holding the cattle in check and position while the process of "eutting out" goes on. To "cut out "

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

stock means to ride into the herd a little way, sin- gle out an animal bearing your brand, separate it from the herd and head it toward and into your own particular "bunch " on the prairie a short dis- tance away. The process appears simple enough, but it is easier described than accomplished. The instinct of the beast leads it to circle back toward the main herd, and it must be headed off at every turn and tack. Even this is not sufficient; at every turn and tack it must be edged a little nearer to the group where it belongs. When finally it is joined to its fellows, there is no more trouble, for it will never think of leaving the small herd for the larger one, and it may be driven away with the rest in perfect peace and serenity. When an owner has separated his cattle from the main herd, it is no trouble at all to drive them back to his home range, unless something happens to stampede them en route.

Very curious are the conditions under which Plains cattle are stampeded. Thorough Texans are

the most timid, the Colorado stock being somewhat domesticated by more handling as they grow up. Whole herds of Texas steers have been stampeded by a rider dismounting from his pony near them. They are accustomed to the sight of men on horseback, and seem to consider man and horse a sort of compound animal, but when the two sepa- rate themselves from each other the average Texas steer don't know what to make of the spectacle.

Eastern readers may wonder why a chapter on stock interests should not include some mention of pork, but in point of fact, hogs are not a Colorado staple. Some few are produced in the agricultural sections, and with profit, too, but the number is limited to the capacity of the farm for producing suitable feed. They get little corn, and are mostly raised on what they can pick up around house and barn, with an occasional meal of vegetables. Only the best varieties are raised, principally Berkshires, whose capacity for rooting a living out of the ground fits them for Colorado peculiarly.

CHAPTER XII.

LEADVILLE AND CALIFORNIA GULCH.

A WRITER, referring more particularly to mining in Park County in the early days, said that " Colorado has always been afflicted with periodic silver excitements, but has not yet been able to realize anything from her undoubted silver deposits." If he could but retrace the ground he traveled over then and be a witness to the opening up of the vast section of carbonates that to-day, at Leadville and vicinity, challenge the admiration and awaken the enthusiasm of the people of the entire continent, he would say that the day he pre- dicted had arrived and the silver deposits revealed. The history of California Gulch began as early as 1860, when a band of miners from Central crossed over the Park Range of mountains and entered the gulch that was destined to enjoy a brief season of notoriety as a gold-producing region, and then lapse

back for many years into obscurity, only to awaken to a newer history, whose pages are to gleam and glow for ages.

The gulch was full of prospectors before the summer was over, and a prosperous camp betokened that the precious metal was there. But the lim- ited water-supply was a great drawback to the development of claims, and the working season was short by reason of the great altitude. For several years, the most available ground was worked over and with returns that were generally satisfac- tory. Up to the close of 1865, it was thought that over three millions were taken out. From that year, miners began gradually to abandon the country, and, in 1869, production had dropped to $60,000, and to $20,000 in 1876. It was the old story, so familiar in mining history, told once more.

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

In 1860-61, placer mining in the gulch formed the great attraction for the major number of adventurers flocking into the country. The towns of Buckskin, Hamilton, Montgomery and Fairplay rose like mushrooms in the night and instantly became centers for that erratic life so peculiar to new mining countries, and so significant of the inborn passion of human kind for greed of gold. In such a population as was thus gathered, the ele- ments of permanency were not to be found. But the gold-seeker is intent upon one object only, and all else must remain in abeyance. The restlessness of his nature concentrates on one thing ouly ; and if the grains of glittering gold he seeks are not in such quantities as take the fancy of the moment, it is but the work of another moment for him to pack up his traps and seek newer pastures. The history of California in the matter of stampedes has been repeated in Colorado, with results that have been fully as ruinous to the stability of towns and the permanent prosperity of the State. Few tarried long in one place. Were men making one ounce per day? Shortly came tidings of places where two ounces were being obtained, and straight- way the beehive life of the spot relapsed into the silence of obscurity. Shortly, most of the mining camps in this district met the fate of their kin- dred camps in other parts of the country, and only two or three settled down into any degree of per- manency.

And yet, all the while that California Gulch had been worked over for gold, the miners daily threw aside as worthless, a very Ophir of exhaustless treasure. During all the time that gulch mining was going on, the miners suffered much inconve- nience from heavy bowlders that they were obliged to move out of their way. The character of the rock they had no suspicion of, and did not stop to investigate. It was not until 1876, that attention began to be drawn to the peculiar formations now so universally known as carbonates. It is uncer- tain who were the original discoverers or locaters. Messrs. Stevens and Wood, a Mr. Durham and Maurice Hayes & Bro., seem to have been quietly

pursuing an examination of the deposits. Each made carbonate of lead locations, aud firmly believed in the mineral wealth then so little under- stood. In 1877, miners began to drift in from the camps in the northern counties of the State, and, in June, the first building on the original town site of Leadville was put up.

In 1877, the district began to assume impor- tance as a mining center, and, perhaps a thousand men, by the fall of that year, were scattered over the hills that surround the town. Some shafts were sunk, but not much paying mineral was mined. Only four or five mines were paying for the working.

In March, 1878, the first sale of mining property that suddenly aroused the attention of the outside world, was made when four claims, owned by poor, hardworking men, were sold to a company for a round quarter of a million dollars.

From this time the finger of destiny pointed to Leadville, and is still lifted. The tide of immigra- tion since that time has been on the flood, and there seems to be no possibility of its ebbing back, leaving a barren waste behind. Men came and looked and wondered. Capital poured in, but those who handled it, put to themselves the question of the permanency of the mines, and, for a long time, hesitated. But while the many waited, here and there a more adventurous one-having faith in the Star of Silver shining so splendidly among the hills -invested thousands and reaped millions, and then those who had hung behind pressed eagerly forward. New mines were opened daily, and pur- chasers for " holes iu the ground " that merely gave promise of reaching mineral were readily found. The beggar of one day became the million- aire of the next. The "tenderfoot," fresh from the States, was as likely to be successful, nay, if anything, more so, than the experienced miner, who for years had trndged over the hills, uncon- scionsly kicking fortune, like a football, from beneath his feet.

Meanwhile, as a natural consequence, the town grew. From a few small slab cabins in 1876, the

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

year 1879 sees it a well and substantially built city, having brick blocks, well-laid-out streets, water-works, gas-works, opera-houses, daily news- papers, banks, and all the adjuncts that make up great and prosperous cities. The question of the future is no longer discussed, save only that of the extent to which it will grow. Its voting popula- tion already outnumbers that of Denver. It has one more daily paper already. No week passes but the discovery of new mines adds to its impor- tance, and if their durability and extent has, to a certain degree, become assured, the next few years will work wonders that will make even the expe- rience of the last two years fall into the shade.

The town of Leadville is beautifully located on the western slope of Ball Mountain, one of the most elevated peaks of the Mosquito Range, about two miles from the Arkansas River, and directly opposite Mount Massive, one of the most majestic peaks in the main range, known as the Continental Divide. West of this chain, the rivers discharge their waters into the Pacific Ocean.

The town is well laid out, with the streets crossing at right angles. It was abundantly supplied, in its earlier days, with water from the Arkansas River, brought many miles in ditches, as well as from the small mountain streams which flow along on either side of the city. But the growth of the town was so great that, in the fall of 1878, a sys- tem of water-works began, which was completed early in 1879, by which the city now has an inex- haustible supply of pure water for all purposes, and there is but little need of fear from fire.

The elevation is 10,500 feet above the level of the sea, or nearly two miles directly up in the air above the capital. It cannot be said of the town that it is the healthiest in the world. Many stig- matize it as the unhealthiest one in the country. It is unquestionably true that a great deal of sick- ness prevails there. But few find that they can remain and breathe the rarefied air year in and year out. The winter months are unusually severe. Pneumonia, erysipelas and heart disease are the prevailing complaints, and death seems to come

more suddenly there than elsewhere ; that is to say, there are no lingering weeks of sickness. The work of the Destroying Angel, when once begun, is rapid.

On the 1st day of July, 1879, there were prob- ably twenty thousand people in the town. Neces- sarily, buildings sprang up by magic. Business houses, hotels, banks, churches, dwellings, all were boosted up as fast as workmen could push them, and the sound of the hammer of the artisan scarcely ceased from one month's end to the other, night and day. Points that were covered with the pines of the forest oue month, the next became streets of traffic with cabins and frame dwellings in all stages of erection, many of them occupied before being finished. One hundred arrivals per day is a low average estimate of the people who came flocking to the new El Dorado from all parts of the Union ; from Maine as well as Texas, from Ore- gon and from Florida. The town was early incor- porated into a city, with a Mayor and Board of Aldermen, an active police department put in order, an efficient fire department organized. Everything in the city grew in proportion to the development of the mines ; as these in 1877 would pass from hand to hand for a few thousands, and in 1879 command millions, so town lots that brought but 825 in the spring of 1878, brought $5,000 in the summer of 1879, and many real- estate operators were made rich thereby.

The principal business streets, at the present writing, we name in the order of their importance: Harrison avenue, Chestnut, State, Main and Pine streets, Lafayette, Carbonate, Jefferson and Lincoln avenues. The banks, principal public buildings and hotels are located on Harrison avenue and Chestnut street.

That Leadville is a lively town may well be imagined ; but one can hardly realize it who has not stood within its borders and witnessed the mighty flood of humanity that, day and night, in a never-ceasing tide, surges through the principal thoroughfares. Its great wealth, its increasing prosperity, naturally make it the point to which

HISTORY OF COLORADO.

Directly south from this last-named hill, is Long and Derry Hill, upon which are found the rich mines known as the J. P. Dana, Porphyry and Faint Hope, the property of the two men in whose honor the hill was named.

The names of the mines thus far given com- prise only those that are best known, not by any means all of the producing mines in and about Leadville. Scores more could be added were it necessary.

A late authority on these mines says, "The pre- dictions that the mines will soon be exhausted, and the prosperity of the camp short-lived, are made only by those who have not considered all sides of the situation. There is no reason why a body of ore inclining slightly below the horizontal should not be as continuous as a vertical vein. The ease and rapidity with which the ore is mined is so much in favor of the mines, for every one is desir- ous of making money in the shortest possible time. Better than all this, continual and rapid enlargement of the ore-producing areas by number- less discoveries, make up many times over for any exhaustion of ground in the older locations. Bet- ter still are the seemingly endless layers or strata of ore, one below another." Another writer, dis- cussing the nature of lead veins generally, says, "The most important features of lead veins, lodes or beds in all of the rich lead-fields known, are that they are horizontal like coal veins or beds and run one under another, the same as coal veins, and always extend downward to the very bottom of the lead-bearing rock or stratum or strata, as the case may be. Such is held to be the nature of the carbonate veins of Leadville. And if it be true that these beds extend to the bottom of the lead- bearing rock, how deep does such strata extend ? Upon a careful examination, for several months, of this mining region, I find it running from nearly the top of the highest mountains to the bottom of the deepest gulches. It is a general rule that metallic veins grow richer and larger as they go deeper in the earth. I have no doubt at all that the richest veins or deposits here will be found

below the bottom of the gulch, and that the time will soon come when millions of tons will be raised from below the beds of our deepest gulches."

If this writer should prove a true prophet, what a future lies in store for the great carbonate camp, whose present output of ore averages one thousand tons per day, of an average value of $60 per ton. Not infrequently ore is found which runs many hundreds.

Leadville is well supplied with smelters or reduction works, where ore is reduced to bullion. These works are kept running night and day, the fires in the furnaces never being extinguished except for repairs. These smelters give employ- ment to about one thousand men.

In one respect in particular, Leadville has dif- fered from almost every other mining center known. While these have had their periods of great lawlessness and disorder, when the turbulent element in society, which always seeks frontier towns, ran riot and refused to recognize the restraints imposed by the law until the strong hand of the vigilantes brought them into subjection, Leadville has been comparatively free from any organized system of outlawry or disorder. Crimes abound, but they are the result of individual raids, and not of organized and well disciplined ruffian- ism. The authorities are active in their efforts to redeem the name of the town from the odium that attaches even to these cases, that almost daily oc- cur. Lives are lost, property destroyed, valuables stolen, but the general peace has been maintained and order generally enforced.

Of course, all kinds of business pursued in the older cities of the West are carried on in the new city. The business houses are now commodious, some of them even imposing, while the amount of business transacted would do no discredit to cities of double the number of inhabitants and scores of years of existence.

The denominations that have built churches are the Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and Catholic. These places are well attended every Sabbath. There are, of course, thousands of people in the

Henry& Thatcher

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city who prefer what is called the sacred concert in day. The air is dry, very thin and rarefied; so much so that persons unaccustomed to such high the saloons to the sacred music of the choir in the church, and who never are seen inside a place of altitudes feel a sense of oppression about the chest, worship. But this may be said of other cities. The floating class of population in the town is one great reason why this is so in Leadville. If the permanent population is only taken into considera- tion, Leadville, in this particular, probably does not differ much from the older and longer estab- lished cities of the country. and experience much difficulty in breathing. Those afflicted with weak lungs or heart disease cannot cudure the altitude of Leadville. The air being so much thinner than at the sea level, the pressure is removed, the heart beats faster, and the blood, rushing through the lungs much more rap- idly than usual, causes the delicate air-cells to The public schools are of but recent growth, but they are well conducted, with teachers able and competent, and the public interest in their suc- cess is increasing. become severed and hemorrhage is the inevitable result. The heart being diseased, it is unable to perform the functions demanded of it, and it sud- denly ceases to beat. Persons of temperate habit There are four banks, four theaters, one hos- pital, a number of hotels, and an opera house, the finest between St. Louis and San Francisco. and of strong constitution, taking proper care of themselves, will probably live as long in Leadville as in cities and towns nearer the level of the sea.

During the summer months, from June to Sep- tember, the nights are very rare when blankets will not be found a necessity. Warm woolen clothing is worn at all seasons of the year. The average daily temperature of summer is 60°, while that of winter is 26°. The rainy season is from June to August, when showers may be expected nearly every day. The clear, cold days of winter, when the thermometer marks zero, or even below that point, are not so disagreeable and cold as on the Atlantic Coast or in the Mississippi Valley, with the thermometer at freezing-point.

Snow frequently falls to the depth of many feet in a single night. During the winter months, it is no uncommon event to have a snow-storm every

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History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado, Part 8

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co. cn; Vickers, W. B. (William B.), 1838- Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 844

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co. cn; Vickers, W. B. (William B.), 1838-
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 844