The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-04-24
Sam Bolger Only Resident of
Colorado Town Today.
Former Topeka Bartender Is
"BOss" of Deserted City.
ONCE FILLED WITH PEOPLE
Gillette at One Time Great
Gold Mining Center.
Now a Thousand Houses Are
Vacant and Crumbling Down.

Living only in the memory of a dis
tant past, isolated from the rest of the
world, yet living in a city of a thou
| sand homes, sitting idly hour by hour
at the front of a small saloon where
| twenty years ago prosperity and ex-
element were on every hand, Sam
Bolger, former Topeka bartender
later an adventurer. gambler and Col
orado saloon owner. is residing in the
deserted mining town of Gillette, Col
The life of Sam Bolger reads like a
romance, tinged with all the vicissi-
tudes of life, livened by the carefree
days when gold was more plentiful in
Cripple Creek than today, Swallowed
I by more sorrows than falls the lot of
the average man. Several Topeka
| pioneers may remember him in the
days of yore when he served drinks
over the bar of a saloon on lower
Kansas avenue. before the amendment
was put into effect which placed Kan
sas in the fore rank of dry states
A newspaper man was one OF a
party of friends who walked from the
summit of Pixies Peak to Cripple
Creek during the summer of 1912
The trip began from the Summit
house over the Cascade wagon road
and branching into Red Cliff canon
about two miles from the peak. This
canon. one of the most beautiful vet
least visited in Colorado, extends for
many miles, with Beaver creek and a
trail at the bottom and the sides dot
ted here and there with deserted and
valueless mines.
After walking for nearly eight
hours through this beautiful work of
nature, the tourists reached the sum-
init of high hill. As Balboa gazed
upon the placid waters of the Pacific
and Chief Ki-Ki-Wapasoo upon the
surrounding country from Burnett's
mound, the Kansans looked down
upon what seemed to be a thriving
and contented city On pretty plain.
baSkinS in the sunshine. was Gillette.
Not a Dog Barked
Knowing nothing about the strange
town, the party hurried down to the
plain below. But not a sound greeted
them The houses in the outskirts
were vacant. Not even the bark Of
ings were fallen to decay; others,
half rotted, were turned upside
down. while others had fallen into
Not a soul stirred on the two main
streets of Gillette Every building
was of plain, implanted frame. Signs
OF the grocers, the hardware mer-
chants, the clothiers, were still hang
ing out over the warped wooden side
walks Every other place was n sa-
loon One two story shack had 4
Singh, barely visible through the
years gone by. Public Dance Hall"
served in the back of the saloon.
One could almost see the ghosts of
olden days walking strutting
through the streets of Gillette. But
today no villager goes on a periodical
jag" and shoots up the town.
But at the unusual sight of guests,
door opened half way down the block
and a man stepped out He was old
and gray and dressed in castoff
clothes He was smoking pipe and
without appearing to note the
tourists, sat down on an old bench in
front of the store.
The newspaper man and his friends
rambled down the street to greet this
old spector- Without any more in
terest in his tone than is rendered
tax collector, he ushered the footpads
to the benches, with a dry and I'M
melodious. '-Howdy.'
An inquisitive Nomad put the fol-
lowing question to the old relic:
Where are the rest of the voters?"
The faded old man did not answer
at first but then he replied, They
are everywhere but here"
He then relapsed into silence, but
Kansas Cityan-spied q table and
few suspicious looking bottles within
the place He called the ancient gen
tleman and together they entered the
poorly kept saloon
The rest of the film deleted by CEN
sor.
When the old man came out. some
ten minutes later, he was in a more
talkative mood.
Kansas as He Knew It.
81 hear that you fellows are from
Kansas ne said: but you don't know
were young then are now in their
dotage. When / lived in Topeka it
was a wide open town and it was my