The Meeker herald., 1896-02-15
ADDRESS
o. the Executive Committee OF
the Western Slope Congress.

10 THE PEOPLE OF WESTERN COLO
RADO:
If the eleven counties OF the western
slope Of Colorado are ever to become
great, they must unite upon one plan.
and through co operation work out their
own salvation.
1896 bids fair to be year of general
prosperity for our state.
The influx of gold seekers will exceed
in numbers and wealth the great stam-
pede to Leadville in 1s7s-79. A large
number OF these people will be drawn to
Colorado by the wonderful discoveries
of gold at Cripple Greek.
Many, after investigating the country
around Denver, Colorado Springs, Pu-
eblo and Cripple Creek, will return to
their eastern homes imbued with the
idea that they have seen pretty much all
of Colorado, not knowing or taking the
pains to learn that the greatest portion
Of Colorado lies west of the continental
divide, and that the western slope of
Colorado far surpasses the eastern Sec
ton of the state in natural wealth. In
fact they will return to their homes
with but slight conception of the wide
opportunities this state offers to the in
vestor, the home seeker, the gold seeker
and the manufacturer, unless the peo
pie of the western slope by united ac-
tion lay hold of this, their opportunity,
and make the most of it.
There is tide in the affairs Of men,
which taken at the food leads on to
fortune"
Now is the opportune moment for the
western slope to present itself and its
unlimited resources to the attention of
the people at large. The fame of Grip
pie Creek has fixed the eyes of the
world upon Colorado, and it is no longer
difficult to get hearing.
In the production of gold, silver, cop.
r.,' '~.a' g. md coal, If we exclude
Leadville, which resting upon a.. o,A...
Of the divide. seenass to betsn9 :s;nar4
as much to the western slope as to the
eastern, We can make a better showing
than the eastern slope, which is many
years older, and where hundreds of dol
lars have been spent in development to
one dollar which has been spent here.
1t is here that the greatest coal meas
ures exist, including the only anthracite
mines west of Pennsylvania.
Here an inexhaustible deposit of iron
ore; vast beds of unrivalled marble and
quaries of granite sufficient for the
needs of a nation. The greatest rivers
of the state traverse the western slope,
furnishing unequaled opportunities for
powder purposes and unlimited water
for irrigation. The greatest results in
horticulture have already been attained
here, our fruits outclassing and outsell-
ing the products of the eastern states.
GOLDINa MINING.
Consider, if you please, the magni-
tude of the gold belt extending through
the counties of Gunnison, uinsdae,
Ouray. San Juan, San Miguel, La Plata
and Dolores. dotted with such mines as
the Golden Fleece, Vulcan, Tom Boy,
Smuggler- Union. Mendoza, Silver Lake,
Washington, American Nettie, Yankee
Girl, Custom, Bachelor, Enterprise, and
hundred others of fair performance,
and the still later discoveries near Gun
nison City and in the Saw Pit district.
San Miguel county. From this field let
US cast our eyes on the camps of Pitkin,
Eagle Routt and Rio Blanco counties.
Such as Red Cliff, Gilman, Fulford, Pit
kin, Tin Cup and Aspen, and the coun-
try known as Hahn's Peak with its
thousands of acres Of placer ground as
well as its lode mines.
The wonderful wealth Of our discov-
cred and developed mines is only an
earnest Of what the future has In store
for us, for the western slope Of Colorado
presents an almost virgin field to the
investOr the mlner or tho hnrnoaoekor
where honest enterprise stands ten
chances of success to one in the more
crowded so-called "excitements."
We should take steps tp call the at
tention Of the stranger who comes to
Colorado to these facts. This should be
done In an honest and intelligent way.
1t should be done through the co-opera-