, 1892-02-11
CREEDE IS A CORKER.
The Greatest Booming Camp Colo
RADIO Has Ever Known.
People FIocking There From all
Parts of the West.
A Former Cheyenne Man Tells an
Interesting Story.

CREEDE, Colo. Feb. Ill L had read
in some novel a description of Creole as I
have found it, l would have pronounced
it a ridiculous flight of the IMAGINATION.
There has never been a duplicate of this
camp 10 the history of the country and it
sets the pace for all SUCCESSORS.
Creole is situated in a canyon on
Willow creek and the Denver Il Rio
Grande road. 379 miles southwest of
Denver by the railroad and about 200
miles distant as the crow flies. On an
average 200 new people arrive here daily.
The camp run about a nile and a half up
the canyon. Houses span the creek, are
built on the steep mountain side or are
perched on the top of big boulders. In
Dimensions they vary fiom l0xl2 feet to
large two storied buildings, with the first
named class largely in the majority.
Shanties dot the mountain sides far up
and the price of land increases as rapidly
in value as the creek flows through the
the town, which is fast enough to
threaten to wash the town away when
the stream is swoolen by the melted
snow in spring. Creole proper is at the
heab of the canyon, with Amethyst,
Jimtown, Creedmore and WATSON below
it. Jimtown promises to be the real
business center of this cluster of camps,
but all are eventually boun1 to constitute
a single municipality. No city govern
ment has yet been organized. Every
body looks out for himself as best he can
and is forced to rely altogether upon his
W resources. 1t is marvellous to me
that in this heartless rough and tumble
scramble for wealth, the population made
up of all classes of people, with no laws
to govern them that the place should be
SO free from crime as it is.
| have now been here four days. In
that time L have seen no disturbances and
only heard OF two fights. When the
town government is organized, and legal
restraints put on, things may be differ
emit.
Restaurants, lodging houses, saloons
and gambling houses are springing up as
though by magic. Money flows like
water into them and they are all thronged
night and day. One saloon here takes IN
S400 a day and others are doing business
In proportion. 1t is impossible to secure
lodging places for the crowd. Five Pull
man sleepers are kept on the tracks here
all the time. Lodging costs 50 a night.
Various comfortable hotels are being
built but even these will not house the
people. The construction is rough and
ready and the wind whistles through the
best of them.
The first church service was held here
this evening in the rear of a big saloon
and gambling hall, the only division being
a thin board partition. On the one side
gospel hymns were being. sung with much
spirit or prayers reverently offered; on the
other the eager throng crowded the gam
bling tables and petitions for mercy were
oftentimes drowned in such expressions as
Last turn; call. copper or bet;"
'Twenty-four in the high. even, juicy
black" or The gentleman with the ace
ten bets five checks" Such j~ostling of
God and the devil makes a sober mans
hair curl.
Few buildings here are quite com
pleted, but the electric light is already
Illuminating the tow and an electric car
line is in course of construction. The
telegraph, freight. express and ticket
Offices are located In narrow guage box
cars. while the postofioe is IN a 12xI5 log
house from which 1t is impossible to get
mail short of two weeks after its arrival
here. Franked express envelopes are
necessarily used tor rapid delivery. Some
men. poor three months ago, possess Tor
tunes now from real estate and mine
sales. Nearly every foot Of country,
mountains, gulches, bills and valleys, for
miles has been taken up in the customary
300 by l,500 feet and the very mountain
sides are staked off into town lots.
Rich paying ores are discovered daily
in old mines and new ores are being
opened up. The snow is too deep for
prospecting but spring promises ~fabulously
rich discoveries, Old timers predict this
will be the richest camp Colorado has ever
known. AT the present rate Creole will
will be a city OF $4,000 people by July.
The Eastern rush has not vet set 10.
When it does the Rio Grande road will
not be able to furnish the transportation.
The fight for wealth is already very
fierce here and will grow %fiercer as time
goes on. As In other places the strong
will force themselves to the front and the
weak will go to the wall.
.INo. G. WORTH.