The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-08-12
TOM WALSH OF COLORADO.
One of the Leaders in Millionaire
Colony in Washington.

Thomas f. Walsh is one of the lead
ers in the millionaire colony in Wash
llngton. He is probably the most lavish
entertainer in the capital and is sale
to have aspirations TO represent the
United States at some foreign court
| Walsh is an Irishman and a Catholic
Mr.. Walsh has had a remarkable his
tory. He was born in County Kerry
Ireland, and came to New York in the
steerage. He worked at his trade OF
imillwright at Lowell, Mass, for a year
or so and then went out to Central
City, Colo, where he worked as a miner
from 1874 until the Black Hills were
opened to settlement in 1876 At Dead
wood he was exceedingly lucky, and
| cleaned up SIS 900 or $500 He moved
down to Leadville and there built and
ran the Grand hotel until 1880. In the
meantime he utilized his opportunities
shrewdly and got hold of several mod
est but profitable mines. He took 800,
600 out of one of them in a few months.
The real estate boom was on in Dem
yer at that time, so he came here and
plunged in with the rest of the specu-
lators, selling his Leadville interest and
investing the proceeds in business prop
erty, stores and office buildings here.
It was during this period that he mar
ried Miss Carrie Bell Read, who has
been more than a helpmate for him.
She was born in Wisconsin, and spent
her childhood in Alabama, where her
father died; and her mother, a very
accomplished woman, who is still liv-
ing at Boulder, came to Denver to take
charge of a school. Mrs. Walsh is a
fine musician. She taught music here
before her marriage and played the
organ in one of the largest churches
in town. Her old friends here say that
she might have married the parson,
but she preferred the miner, and short
~ after their marriage she and Mr..
Walsh went to Birmingham, Ala,
which was just beginning to boom. He
lost great deal of money there. Every
thing seemed to be against him. 1t
was the only time in his life when his
luck ran that way.
In 1892 he returned to Colorado, went
and settled at Cripple Creek, bought
the Deerhorn mine and his fortunes
turned again. He built smelter at
Kokomo and another at Silverton.
where he picked up several small but
well-paying mines. One day, while he
was running his Smelter at SilVerton,
he was riding across the hills, and his
horse stumbled. Walsh dismounted to
see if the fanima1swas hurt. For years
he has been considered one of the best
judges of pay rock in Colorado, and
he never took a walk in the mountains
without examining the stones in his
path. After he had satisfied himself
that his horse was not injured he
picked UP several pieces of rock lying
in the grass, and his curiosity was
excited by them He hitched his horse
and followed out groupings up a hill.
There was an abandoned shaft a few
feet deep on the slope and he looked
into IT,. After an hour or two of
examination he turned his horse to-
ward home with his pockets full of
ore. During the next few months he
quietly purchased all the claims and
located on all the vacant land in that
vicinity. Nobody was looking for
gold in those days and nobody
suspected tom Walsh of doing SO.
He invested about 100000 before he
commenced the development, but as
soon as he got the first shaft opened
he paid for the property in a few
weeks. The ore ran from 800 to $125
a ton, and at one time, in 1897, he took
out $712,000 net profit in eighty-one
days. In May, 1902, he sold the mine,
the Camp Bird, to an English syndi-
cate for 100000 The contract of sale
provided that after the buyers had re-
themselves from the output of
the mine he should receive one-tourth
of the future profits. His fourth inter-
est, according to the gossip of Denver,
now pays him about 100000 a year,
and his income is likely to continue at
that rate indefinitely. At the time of
the sale he gave j. W. Benson, who,
for sixteen years, had been his man
ager, right-hand man and confidential
man, a handsome fortune, upon which
the latter has now retired and is liv-
ing in Denver.-William e. Curtis,
Denver Correspondence.