Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-10-20
WARMAN ON CREEDE.
"REMINISCENCES OF A MAN WHOM A
PARTNER CALLED WHITE.
Many Stories That Were Not True Have
Been Printed About Him and In Some
Quarters He Was Given a Reputation
Which Did Him Great Injustice.


Just before dawn the train stopped at
Salida TO change engines and get helper
for the hill 1t was showing even there in
the valley, and was sure to be n rough day
on Poncha pass. The train had been well
filled on leaving Denver. At Colorado
Springs it had been packed At Pueblo
we picked up another sleeper, and an adj
ditional day coach at Salida We hit tho
heavy grade in two sections, and when tho
conductor came through one of the passcn-
gers, who knew him, asked "Wherc in
thunder IL oil the people Hoin, Troop"
"Goin to Creede, " replied the ticket TAX
or without looking
well Ct shafts all, they needen TO-"
said che passenger playfully, eur Creede's
right here. He's in the smokin rum"
Now, there were many upon this train
who had never seen the founder of the IA
nous silver camp and some men followed
the conductor to the smoking room of tho
sleeper The door was closed and the con.
ductor pushed against 1t. 1t yielded henv-
lily, and he pushed again and crowded in.
man was lying on the floor against tho
door, and when he had been placed upon
the sofa and revived we saw a modcstly
dressed man of middle age, medium size,
with blue eyes looking out of sad face.
He had tainted, he guessed, and then the
conductor asked his name. "Crecdc, - said
the man, and that was our first meeting.
My interest in the man began when I
met an old comrade of his who had served
with him In the Sioux wars In the sixties.
After that Creedo and became very good
friends
He was born on farm not far from
Fort Wayne, Ind. Creede put in seven
md rtN1t A.,ht a,,I
helped with his hands to open the over
land route to the Rockies Some OF his
adventures have been recorded and many
have not been told. A most important
event in his life was omitted from all
these narratives, an event that lost to him
all the glory he had gained in the Sioux
wars and put n shadow on his trail After
the war no went back TO his old home in
Iowa, where he had the misfortune to fall
desperately in love with his brothers
sweetheart. The brother triumphed, and
II broke Creedes heart II was his first
and last love. Like the rejected poet. he
was mad with grief and shame. He GROSS
ed the plains and changed his name
So it came about that in the spring of
1870 in the register of the Drovers' hotel
at Pueblo he wrote his name " Nicholas G.
Creole, which till then was not his name
In little while Creedc became a well
known prospector He was patient and
persevering, and upon his trail are many
prosperous mining camps, notably Mon
arch and Bonanza. These camps were
called after the first claim located, and IL
the prospector had kept that up Creole
would have been called Holy Moses"
Many amusing stories have been told as
TO the naming Of this claim, but, unfor-
tunately none Of them Is true The first
find at Creole, as at Monarch, proved to
be one of the poorest, but it helped tho
prospector. 1t brought him in touch with
Mr. Moffet Of Denver and put him in tho
way to discover the Amethyst, which
! brought him fame and fortune His share
was a one-third interest in the Amethyst
mine One day, in his modest cottage at
| Pueblo, he showed me small slip of pa
| per from the First National bank of Den
| yer upon which was written. February
deposit, $50, 900"
THAT was my rake of for last month"
! he said in his quiet, modest way. At this
| time Creede was not a strong man. Seven
years OH the plains and IL years in tho
| hills hunting for mines are enough 10 wreck
even the strongest constitution. Tho one
companion that he kept through all these
| - years was a little old dog whose shaggy
coat was the color Of wood ashes. At
Creedes request photographed him aud
| the dog.
In June of that year, 1898, Creole said
he would go TO California, and we agreed
to meet at San Francisco. From Frisco
we went to Los Angeles, and when Creedo
saw the pretty house at sol Pearl street he
wanted it. Standing in the garden he
took of his hat, smiled and said, This is
my Eden, " little dreaming that il would
be his Gcthsenane as we'll.
Just as the successful litterateur dis
couragcs young writer's did this successful
miner discourage prospectors
stick to your quill" he wrote to a
friend who had asked him to buy claim
at Cripple Creek, land you have my
friendship. Go prospecting and you lose
it," After a severe and long illness this
same friend wrote gloomily, and Creole
replied: "Nevor give up the ship. Cheer
up. There is much to live for. "
Months ago he wrote to his friend, who
was then in Washington, cheerful letter,
and it CHANGED to be the last: we, too, have
baby-a little girl-and do you know
that have never known Of such pleasure
in all my life as the pleasure of caring for
this little child? | like to dress her and
undress her as little girls do with their
dolls.
This was the littlo girl whom he bad
adopted 1t seems to me that that letter
alone shows that Creede's heart was in the
right place. What a loving father he
might have been What happy home he
might have made if things had gone just
little different Very few people knew
Creole intimately. He avoided people He
was constantly ashamed of having changed
his name. He exaggerated this bit Of fool
ishness into crime and brooded over it,
and the bitter disappointment of his earlier
life staid in his heart and kept it sad.
And so people who never knew Creole
lisliked him This is especially true OF
those who conceive il to be their duty or
who think it smart to hate the rich and
fortunate. Here follows a sample of the
unkind cuts that are aimed at the unfor-
tunate dead:
THE death OF n. c. Crcedo removed
from earth rather harmonious case of
idiot that never aspircd to anything higher
than eating morphine and figuring con-
spicuously in divorce suits.
Now, so far as l know, he has never fig
ured in divorce court, and | make no
doubt his first dose of morphine was taken
upon that awful afternoon when he gave
up the ship and went into his garden to
} die
To use the expression OF an old prospect
ing partner of his, "Crcede was n white
, man. and he was liked best by those who
knew him best. "-Cy Warnan in New
York Sun.
Appropriate.