Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-11-08

Creek district is not exactly Beautiful
unless ole looks away off, ignoring the
foreground, toward the dentelated
range at. the Sangre de Cristo Noun
tains far to the, SOUTH Imagine an r.
regular. BASIN shaped area. only Tour
or five miles square, lying ten thousand
feet above thessea, surrounded by STOP
ing ridges and hills rising a couple OF
thousand feet hgher-all u barren ann
desolate treeless waste, with hardy u
shred of vegetation. Until 1880 TINS ior-
lorn-looking elevated valley was part
of a big cattle range. lost among the
wild heights of the Pixies Peak region,
thirty miles from the nearest railway,
and knovn only to the herdSmen whose
cattle rrlzed llpon the sparse grass
along its slender watercourses. by
chance, SOMEONE in the lonely place
found I. piece of sold-bealing float. and
Dug a prospect hole. which developed
nut little value. Prospecting once be-
gun. however. the golden secret OF the
hills was soon revealed, and one bo-
panza strike followed close upon an
other. Within ten years gold to the
value of one hundred million dollars
was mined in the district. The trans-
formation caused by this sudden and
overwhelming Hood of gold on the bar
ren cattle range up in the clouds is al
most unparalleled. This remote and
inhosoitable bit of territory is now the
home of sixty thousand people, The
two largest towns, Cripple Creek and
Victor are connected not only by the
RAILWAYS already %. mentioned, but by
two trolley lines, each serving a. chain
of mines scattered through the district
The towns cannot, of COURSE belle their
snewnass. but after all it is surprising to1
see how solidly they are built. Some
of the newer. structures are almost
pretentious in their style.
Everybody viii recognize at once the
breezy, Western quality in the famous
Chicago device; He that bloweth
not his own horn hath it not blowed."
The Cripple Creek district is excess
sively Western in this respect, as in
others: il certainly yields not at all in
self-confidence and seif-assertion to the
big Windy city" on the inland sea.
AS an evidence of this. and as char
acterstic product Of the picturesque
Westernism that is fast vanishing with
the passing of the frontier" the of
fetal Guide 10 Cripple Creek District
by Cripple Greek Chamber of Com
merce" is an advertising and exc as
amusing a piece of advertising liter
allure as one may hope to read. This
little pamphlet reveals a mixture of the
sh,ewd and the naif, of the jauntily
sophisticated and the blandly childlike
of cunning calculation and open
hearted hospitality. that is quite fasci-
mating; and its style is Irresistible. The
extracts that follow are given verbatim
ct literatim, SO that they may lose none
of the distinctive quality inherent even
in misprints and slight peculiarities of
photography. -'54~
Notice. first of all, with what tempt
ing insinuation the willy scribe lures his
readers to prolonged sojourn in his,
wonderland: 1.-The Cripple Creek dis
trict can justly claim more real, true
points of interest 10 the sigh seer than
any other place of equal size in the
state. The great mines with their
mammoth dumps of precious and waste
rock mixed together in all shapes,
sizes and colors are always exceedingly
interesting to the stranger. and who
would not iarry to pick up a few odd
specimens from the pile to be described
TO friends around the fireside at home?
To scratch over these dumps consumes
time. The monStrous mills which eat
up the rock and turn out the beaminS
ingots of pure gold, especially the mod
ern machinery which accomplishes this
result. is worthy of close and earnest
study. This also takes time. The col
umbines and daisies which grow wild
in abundance in their summer home
upon the green, velvety carpeted hill
sides. are yours for the plucking. And
this takes time. And yonder snow
capped mountain range, more than "a
hundred miles away, which ever
charms the eye and sinks the most ac-
tive brain into "a reverie, will be a
draft upon ones limited time. There
fore. we say you cannot hope to see
Cripple Greek district i'll a day, hut
should remain among us for fort
night. Your visit Will be made pleas
ant and cheerful by all you see and
meet and the expense will be less or no
more than in the valley below. Good
meals can be obtained at our restau-
rants for fifteen cents or as much more
as you choose to pay. Good rooms cost
but fifty cents per night or $1.5O per
week and upwards
The iHatchleSS advantages of the two
largest towns in the district are set
forth in iapidary style, with the arts