The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-09-23
GREATEST OF GOLD CAMPS
Cripple Creek Is Now Stald Tho Pros.
porous Civ: ...'s .I. ,e..

Cripple Creek, Col, Sept. 21.-A peace
full little city of 10000 inhabitants, with
churches, and more schools to the popu-
lation than Chicago or Minneapolis; such
is ''the mining camp of Cripple Creek.
High up In little bowl in the mountains,
forty miles west Of Pixies Peak, in a little
district of six miles square, is the great
est gold mining region in the world. Here
is produced one twentieth of all the gold
produced in the world and a fifth of the
output Of the United States, including
Alaska sum which in 1901 amounted to
more than $24,0OO,0Oo. The monthly out
put from this little section averages more
than $1,5O0,000, and since the discovery
Of gold here, ten years ago, the produc-
ton has aggregated more than $3.50, 900, 000
This country used to be a grazing sec
ton. One day a coW-puncher, his name
now lost to history, but employed by a
ranchman named Bob Womack, picked up
ia rock to throw at a steer, but, finding it
heavy in his hand, he glanced at 1t, and
did not throw 1t at the cow. He took the
rock to Colorado Springs, where he had
it assayed, and what he discovered from
this assay resulted shortly in the an
nouncement to the world Of the wonder
full gold discovery in the region Of Cripple
Creek. It may be interesting to know that
the ranchman who owned this territory,
or a larger part Of it, cleaned up the
enormous sum of $40, 900 tas a result Of the
gold discovery, which he straightWay lost
in mining speculation. The cow -puncher
who actually picked up the. rock never
received a cent. *s
The speculative era has passed in the
Cripple Creek gold mining region. So has
the period Of border ruffanfsm and the
days of uncouth and strange doings which
are associated with the pioneer stages
of gold-mining. Cripple Creek is now the
Mecca of tourists, and a sober, industrial
|center where values are figured In per-
centages, and tourists come in Pullman
cars and have electric lights, telephones,
drumming water and all the Accomplishments
of modern civilization. There is good
opera house here, fine7 residences, and
even a Christian Science church. Prac-
tically every business block and residence
is built Of substantial red brick, after the
most approved modern architecture. The
streets are macadamized, curbed and gut
tered and lighted at night, and 80 per
cent Of all the houses are equipped with
telephones.
The Cripple Creek region, so called, in
cludes number OF separate settlements,
all Of them situated in or about the small
basin to which reference has been made
before. OF these the principal ones are
Victor, Goldfeld, Independence, Altman,
Anaconda, Elkton and Cameron. The to-
tai population Of the district is estimated
at 10000. There are three lines of rail-
road, which carry the gold ore and pas
tsengers to the outside world. One of these
lines has just been completed and is
owned and managed by the proprietors Of
the principal mines. It is known as the
Short line and altho but forty miles In
length, cost s4,ooo,0o0 to build. It's ter
mini are Cripple Creek and Colorado
Springs. The president Of the road is the
proprietor of the Portland mine, which is
the richest in the district and Irving w.
Howbert In his name The road is re-
garded as one Of the most wonderful
feats of railroad engineering of modern
times. It Is Of standard guage and granite
ballasted, thru grades and cuts which have
for. years been regarded as inaccessible to
steam travel. S
The scenery along the road Is such as to
lrender futile any effort at descriptions