The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1892-03-24

Editors anderson lnteligencer:: l have
thought it quite likely that some of the
good people who read your paper would
find some interest in partial description
of the newest, and, considering its age,
the greatest mining camp in America
Creede, Colorado, is about $50 miles south
of Denver, in the widest part of the Col
orado mountains. It is silver camp in
every sense of the expression, as its sill
yer mines are all it can lay any claim to,
except snow banks from two to twenty
feet deep during considerable portion
of the year.
Creede now boasts about ten thousand
people, but it is likely that there are not
so many people there, but at any rate, its
present population is wonderful when it
is considered that the town is less than
six months old.
The place has peculiar shape. Being
built on the banks of small creek,
which at this point flows through mar
row gulch it is about two and one half
miles in length by one hundred and fifty
yards in width, and in many places it's
width does not exceed fifty feet. In
some places the houses are 80 built that
they bang directly over the creek, and it
is now predicted that when the snow
melts on the mountains, these houses
vii! share the fate Of those referred to in
the Scripture which were built upon the
sand. Along the sides of the gulch are
stairways built up to the level of the sur.
rounding country. When one reaches the
level up there he will see that the ground
reaches away to the foot of the high
mountain in kind of elevated plain or
"mess." The mountains are from ope to
two miles distant and there are the
mines. The "Holy Noses" on one side,
is about one and half miles away, and
on the other side, the Last Chance"
another prominent mine, about four miles
from the gulch. There are numerous
other mines of great value adjacent, and
countless numbers of "claims" and pros
pect holes. Good ore is gotten out of
several of these mines, and as it lies near
the surface mining is not very expensive
ss compared with other mining districts,
where deep shafts have to be sunk
through solid rock. The active develop.
ment of mining began here less than six
months ago, and as the ground has been
deeply covered with snow nearly all the
time since then, but little, comparatively,
has been done outside of those mines in
which shafts had been sunk previous to
the cold weather. But little can be known
of the real resources of the camp. Per-
haps thorough development, which can be
prosecuted in the Spring, may result in
great discoveries, and on the other hand
it may turn out that there Is but little
more here than has already been found.
But Notwithstanding the uncertainty of
what the future may bring to light,
thousands of men have Aocked here to
''stake claim" while there is ground yet
untaken, and the majority of them have
brought money to pay their expenses for
a while until they can strike a vein and
ret rich. Nine out of ten hope for this,
but less than one out of thousand suc-
ceed in making money out of mining.
The fame of the mineral districts went
out through Colorado like wild fire, and
In wonderfully short time the gulch
through which Willow Creek flows was
changed from a solitary wilderness to a
bustIing town of several thousand peo-
pie, insane with the hope of prosperity
and reckless as are all who live to-day
in the hope that tomorrow will bring
wealth and comfort.
The excitement grew rapidly, and the
usual number of gamblers and whiskey
men came here with the first rush of peo.
pie. Before houses were built fos men to
sleep in, half dozen saloons and gam
bling places were running in full blast,
and in it's infancy the Goddess of Chance
began to hover about the town. An in
teresting sight, indeed, and strange, it is
to pass through gambling house in
Creede. Every game of chance by which
the house has an immortal ciuch for
winning is played, from Faro to Honest
John, and from Keno to Stud Poker.
Crowded around the/various tables are
hard-vissged men and harder hearted
women, placing their chips and watching
the turn of the card. In the eye of the
man who is winning there is glitter Of
fierce interest, and his hand trembles
when he reaches it out to rake ia his
winnings. From the other side of the
table you can hear q curse and gnash
of teeth from the man who has bet the
opposite way and lost, and in few mo-
ments he rises from the table swearing at
his luck, fate and himself, for he has lost
his last dollar, but he Immediately seeks
some acquaintance from whom be hopes
to borrow a few dollars with which to re
deem bis fortune. 1t is strange that
wherever open gambling is allowed peo
pie almost universally gamble. Not one
out of hundred succeed in keeping
ahead of the game, yet they return day
after day, aud night after night, to depos.
it their money in the Faro Bank or some
other game. In Creede there is q large
number of people who make living by
gambling, and here can be encountered
the kind of life of which Mark Twain
and Bret Rsrte wrote few years ago.
Here the first mayor was Mr.. Bob. Ford,
the man who killed Jesse James. Mr.
Ford is here running large establish
mant. consisting of q saloon and pam-