The Washington herald., 1908-04-19

Bob womack. the poor cowboy who
sank the first shaft in the Cripple Creek
district and thereby enriched the Golfers
Of the world by $3.50. 900. is in dire pow.
erty In Colorado Springs. and will be
given life pension by some OF the men
he has made millionaIres.
| Womack for several years has been a
helpless cripple from paralysis. Previ-
Gus to the paralytic visitation he aided
| his sister in running a boarding-h house.
Nobody would have dreamed that this
bright. CHEEKY old man, sometime split
ti1% -kindlings. or again washing dishes
or waiting ~ table, had discovered the
great gold camp Of Cripple Creek, and,
had he held to his original claims. would
have been worth s25,OOOOOO Yet such is
the fact.
Saved from POorhouse.
And to-day womack would be facing
the poorhouse were it not that some OF
the men who have profted by his faith
have resolved not TO let the old pros
pector come to any such fate
| Late in tie SOS Bob Womaek was rid
ing the range for a cattle outfit in a tract
OF land known at that time as Requa
Gulch. where Cripple Creek is now sit
uated.
| Cripple Creek was first settled on by q
fanehman named Levi Welty. Bob Wo-
macks father secured Welty's title, but
the land passed from his control TO two
young men named Thompson and Ander-
son.
Bob did the work Of a cowboy for the
new owners. The cattlemen did not pros
per, and a real estate firm, Bennett &
Myers, Of Denver had to foreclose q
mortgage on what they thought a most
| undesirable piece Of property.
Located Gold King Mine.
In January. 1881. Bob dug a prospect
hole on what is now known as the FL
Paso lode Of the Gold King Mining Com
pany. one Of the richest veins in Cripple
Creek
/ 1t chaneed that Mr. Myers, head Of the
real estate firm that owned the cattle
ranch, visited the place while Bob was
at work uncovering Millions. The fore
man. Carr. remarked that Bob had a
weakness for prospecting and that he
/ had better be discharged, as every pros-
| pect hole means the loss Of at least one
steer.
/ Mr. Myers decided TO investigate, and
/ he and Carr went up Poverty Gulch and
/ found Bob at work on his claim. Calling
/ him from the prospect hole. Mr. Myers
/ told him he would have TO leave the ranch
I If he did not desist.
Bob steadily denied that his prospect
! ing fever had caused the loss Of any cat
/ tie, and before the real estate man had
| left the scene the cowboy had partly
converted him to the theory that there
was ore in that very spot.
Assay Never Reported.
Mr. Myers took a sack Of the rock to
Denver and had it assayed, but never get
report on it. Whether the assayer con-
temptuously threw the rock into the al
ley, or whether the tests were not Of
proper sort, will never be known.
At any rate. Mr.. Myers lost the oppor-
tunity of becoming a mining magnate.
though il afterward turned out that he
made fortune from the discovery OF
Cripple Greek. through the valuable real
estate he possessed in the ranch
Bob Womack took some rock from his
El Paso claim to TWO citizens of Colorado
Springs. The ore gave splendid returns.
and fortune was within the poor cowboys
grasp. but he flung il aside
Well give you 800 for the claim" said
one OF the future millionaires.
Done. said the cowboy, to whom $3.50
looked like big fortune.
The deal was made, and development
work was begun on the property which
has paid many hundreds of thousands Of
dollars in dividends and which is still one
Of the great gold mines Of the camp.
Gave Away HIS Claims.
Not yet did opportunity cease to knock
at Bob Womack's door. It is estimated
that during the years 1890 and 1891 the
cowboy had between thirty and forty
locations in the goid-bearing district.
Whenever one of his friends was look
ing for location. Bob would make him
a present of a claim. Some of the best
properties in the district passed through
his hands in this manner without mis- re-
ceiving the slightest benefit therefrom.
Among the properties which the gen.
erous prospector gave away were such
mines as the Kittie NJ, the Lone Star,
the Abe Lincoln, the c. o. D., the Re-
beca, and dozens of others on Bull Hill
and Battle Mountain. Had ne held these
claims Bob Womack would be worth
many millions to-day, and would be one
of the worlds great mining kings,
Strange freaks of fortune were played
among the adventures who fiOcked 10 the
cattle ranch where Bob Womack had
been euchered out of so many millions.
StrattOn's Hard Luck.
w S Stratton, of Colorado Springs,
who located the Independence gold mine.
a property that sold for Sl0OOO.OO0 a few
years ago in London, was among the first
on the ground. Yet Stratton came near
being baked out OF millions by strange
happening in Colorado Springs
He had loaded two burros with his
prospector's outfit. but, just as he was
about to start for the new strike" he
was arrested by the local humane society.
charged with overlooking the animals It
was day before he got this matter fixed
up, and it might have prevented him from
making the trip that put him among the
milliOnaires.
WOmsck saw the man who had bought
his prospect for $500 sell p third interest
in his mine for s35,0O0. He saw claims
that he had given away yielding rich ore
at the first strike of the pick.
Puzzled by the trick fortune had played
on him, the cowboy turned from the hills
and went to Colorado Springs. where he
has lived with spinster sister, making
no effort to reap any of Cripple Creeks
endless harvest,